Florida’s Jon Sumrall is taking a different approach to finding a quarterback
Jon Sumrall had just provided the ceremonial pump-up speech every new college football coach gives during a basketball game at their new school. He was winded. This postgame-adjacent interview could’ve been taken out of context.
“I like our quarterback room,” Florida’s coach said, taking questions under the arena. “Is there maybe a known, proven starter in that room? No. Are there guys that I think can help us win football games here? Yeah.”
Coaches want to hype the guys they have, obviously, but questions about Florida’s quarterback room are still warranted.
The first-year SEC coach has two options. In one corner lies a redshirt sophomore transfer who has never started a game, passing for two touchdowns and three interceptions as Haynes King’s shadow. That’s Aaron Philo, by way of Georgia Tech. Across the ring: a true second-year who passed for two touchdowns in the possibly more daunting, or at least more attention-filled, shadow of DJ Lagway. That’s Tramell Jones Jr. Sumrall will be choosing between the two, as Florida didn’t, or couldn’t, put pen to paper with any of the flashier veterans in this year’s iteration of the transfer market.
So Sumrall’s original words may have felt foolhardy, even fake. His doubling down on Wednesday in his first official press conference of the spring didn’t totally help either.
“Buster (Faulkner — Florida’s new offensive coordinator) is very confident in Philo and his readiness to be a high-level player. So that made me more confident because he saw him every day for the last couple years, so that was a huge part of that,” Sumrall said. “If Buster hadn’t been with him, I probably would have had more questions.”
Faulkner arrives after three seasons as Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator, where he most recently led the Yellow Jackets to an offense that ranked 27th in the country in scoring, reeling in 32.2 points per game. Even then, Philo was rarely a factor in that production. Florida’s confidence in him is entirely based on talent, not production, which is a stark contrast from the direction the rest of college football has trended.
The germane example comes further south — one you know well. Under Mario Cristobal, Miami has developed a system of replacing its quarterback each season. First came Cam Ward, then Carson Beck and, in this cycle, the Hurricanes yet again snatched another experienced signal caller from the portal, Darian Mensah. He even came as the Hurricanes’ season extended to the national championship on Jan. 19, far after portal action typically takes place in early January. And Miami isn’t alone. Five of the 12 teams in this year’s College Football Playoff were led by a transfer quarterback who’d previously started at another Power Four school.
The question, then, is why Florida opted for the route of inexperience. It may have been out of Sumrall’s hands, given that five of the top 10 teams from last season signed transfer quarterbacks who are expected to start next year. In this type of market, a team needs to establish success before it can come calling for transfer quarterbacks, who, similarly, have established success.
But at the very least, with two unproven fighters in Florida’s ring, we’re in for a true competition. “There’s nothing guaranteed,” Faulkner said. “I’m all about competition. We’re going to play the best player.” Sumrall had similar remarks, and while Philo tracks as the probable frontrunner, Jones will still give him a push.
“Tramell has got a really high ceiling, too,” Sumrall said, before redirecting the conversation. “But it’s not just down to those two guys yet. My first year at Tulane, Darian Mensah (yep, him) was the third quarterback until two weeks before the first game.”
“Everybody is going to get what they earn. There is no starting quarterback yet.”