Jon Sumrall will be taking 'players first mentality' from Kentucky to Troy

The Mark Stoops coaching tree is slowly growing. After Neal Brown turned a successful four-year coaching stint at Troy into a Power Five job opportunity, Jon Sumrall will be looking to do the same.

The 39-year-old defensive head coach spent three seasons with Kentucky from 2019-21 coaching linebackers, and quickly earned the co-defensive coordinator title. Sumrall showed some impressive work on the recruiting trail and will be returning to Troy after working under Brown there from 2015-17.

The Alabama native will be attempting to use the same program philosophy that Stoops installed at Kentucky. The new head coach went on The Next Round and discussed what he will take to the Sun Belt from his time spent with Stoops in the SEC.

New @TroyTrojansFB HC Jon Sumrall joined us today. His former boss, @UKCoachStoops, is widely considered to be one of the best program-builders in CFB. @CoachJonSumrall hopes to bring a lot of what he learned in Lexington to Troy.
FULL INTERVIEW 👉 https://t.co/s88wq5rAXP pic.twitter.com/OBKkIDKiIV

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) June 14, 2022

“I consider him a great friend and mentor,” Jon Sumrall said about Stoops. “I was actually on FaceTime with him about a week and a half ago. I still pick his brain every chance I get. Mark really stayed the course maybe through some tough times early on in his program there. Early on for him, he didn’t just find immediate success. It took a lengthy amount of time to build a foundation and put things in place to have a lasting, successful program. But the thing he does best out of everybody I’ve ever been around is he’s really, really good at developing relationships of meaning with his players. And actually caring about them from a whole person perspective bigger than just football. Mark is as authentic and genuine as a human being as you’re ever going to fine. So he does a really good job of thinking about everything in a players first mentality. We’re going to do that the same way here. Everything that comes across my desk, I don’t ask myself what’s in my best interest or what’s in anybody else’s best interest other than our players.

After a tough first three years in Lexington, Stoops created a foundation for Kentucky football and that has led to a 47-29 overall record over the last six seasons. During that time, Stoops built a reputation that he is a players first coach. That has directly impacted the solid football culture his staff has built in Lexington. Jon Sumrall will now be looking to utilize that blueprint at Troy.

“My job here is to shepherd those guys and mentor them,” said Sumrall. “That’s what Mark has done so well is just staying the course and fighting for what’s best for his players all the time.”