TAMPA — Upon the completion of Florida’s spring football season in April, coach Jon Sumrall met individually with quarterbacks Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr.
Sumrall felt Philo and Jones were owed a progress report and a hypothetical.
“I told them, ‘If we started a game this week, this is who would start, but it’s not final — we don’t play a game this week,’” Sumrall said to a group of reporters at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, July 22.
Three-plus months later, it still isn’t final.
And it may not be final for several more weeks.
The Gators open the season — and The Sumrall Era — Sept. 5 against Florida Atlantic at The Swamp. That allows for several practices and as many as two scrimmages for him and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to decide between Philo (a transfer from Georgia Tech) and Jones (an alum of Mandarin High in Jacksonville).
“I don’t have a timeline,” Sumrall said. “I’ll meet with both of them together before training camp. Just because you start Game 1 doesn’t mean you’ll start Game 12 (Nov. 27 at Florida State). My timeline could be five minutes before the first game.”
(That last sentence is an amusing line, but UF fans should hope Sumrall is joking, right?)
In reality, who starts against FAU and/or Week 2 against Campbell (Sept. 12) means little. The Gators should want a clear No. 1 by the time they start preparing for the Week 3 game at Auburn (Sept. 19). Sumrall, of course, would never admit that publicly, but the soft opening to the season means he could have significant game reps to aid the evaluation process.
“Right now, in my mind, I’m not trying to make coach-speak, I view us as having two starters today,” Sumrall said.
Does the old phrase, “When you have two starting quarterbacks, you have none,” apply here? I don’t think so. Florida has two potential starting quarterbacks, just not starting experienced quarterbacks.
Philo, Jones have ability to lead
As much as some want to anoint Philo as the presumptive starter because he followed Faulkner from Georgia Tech and thus has experience in the system, here’s the thing: Philo hasn’t played a lot of college football, either.
Philo was 59-of-102 passing for 938 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions for Georgia Tech and Jones was 21-of-35 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns last year for the Gators. Philo is a third-year sophomore and Jones a redshirt freshman. Whoever starts first and starts most will experience on-the-job training, but will benefit from playing for Faulkner, whose system is widely respected for stressing defenses all over the field.
Philo could have started at Georgia Tech, but joined Faulkner in Gainesville. Same coordinator, yes, but still a leap of faith.
Jones could have transferred when UF hired its new staff, but he opted to stay put. Again, a leap of faith, but how can you not like his confidence and commitment in an era when so many quarterbacks have high-tailed it out of town at the first sign of adversity?
Sumrall believes he has the right type of guys in the competition.
“Both have been great,” he said. “They push each other, they challenge each other, they support each other and they’re going to fight for each other.”
That part of the competition is a non-negotiable for Sumrall.
“They know the quickest way they can lose the job is to be a bad teammate,” he said. “The locker room will rally around both of them because of the way those (two) guys are wired. We’re not in a situation where one guy is a great leader and one guy is a dud. We’ve got two awesome guys and both have the ability to lead our football team.”
Find starter entering Auburn game
In the UF spring game, Philo was 21-of-28 passing for 193 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Jones was 13 of 17 for 210 yards and two touchdowns. The guess here is Philo will enter fall camp leading Jones.
Sumrall said, “there are a lot of things that go into the decision,” but then accurately boiled it to down to one facet.
“Consistency is the biggest,” he said.
Bingo.
“Do you consistently do the right thing and make good decisions and operate; you can’t forget to bring guys in motion,” he said.
Bingo again.
“And it’s not a one-hit wonder (thing),” he said. “It’s not, ‘Hey, I had a great day, I’m the starter.’ It’s who can stack days.”
Bingo one more time.
Does some of the decision involve the Gators’ uncertain offensive line? Possibly. Sumrall poked the group after the spring game, saying he was “underwhelmed,” by their strength. He was kinder here in Tampa, but if UF is still mix and matching up-front groups in Games 1-2, that might favor Jones, who can do more things on the run. But if the line proves solid in pass protection, it could favor Philo, who operates more from the pocket.
Sumrall has made dozens of decisions since he was hired in December to replace Billy Napier. But his biggest one awaits.
“I don’t love the quarterback shuffle deal,” Sumrall admitted. “I don’t have a blueprint for how it’s going to go. We’re going to do what we have to do to position Florida football to win games.”
If that means Philo against FAU, that’s what Sumrall will do. If that means Jones against Campbell, ditto. The motto for UF’s training camp should be “AAA” — All About Auburn. Take training camp and the first two games, if needed, to sort out the quarterback situation in time for the start of SEC play.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night”), Thursdays (1:15 on “XL Primetime”) and Fridays (4-6 p.m. on “The Lead”).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jon Sumrall: Florida Gators have 2 starting QBs. They need one by Auburn
Reporting by Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ryan O'Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
