A look at the Florida Gators’ biggest questions with spring camp underway
Just like that, things are back to normal. At least in Gainesville.
Florida basketball has found its way back into being — possibly — better than its preseason No. 3 ranking, despite its tumultuous first six weeks of the season. Around that time, Florida football had just hired its new coach, Jon Sumrall, and he gave the usual initial remarks.
“We will be tough. We will have grit. We will not be outworked,” he declared. “I think of aggressive, I think of explosive, I think about mixing tempos, using it to your advantage, and dictating the game to the opponent.”
Talk is talk, and the field would prove what values Florida actually preaches. That verdict can’t come until the fall, but with spring camp underway this week, Florida’s fixer-upper is at the survey stage. What needs to change? What areas did Sumrall misevaluate when securing his first transfer class? What holes need to be filled during the summer?
Here are the primary questions the Gators have to answer in spring camp:
Who is the quarterback?
This is the most obvious gap in Sumrall’s first roster, and it’s the sole culprit pulling the Gators down from a ballooning stratosphere of offseason expectations: Florida’s lack of a proven quarterback.
For all Sumrall did this winter, he placed his largest bet on Aaron Philo, a backup from Georgia Tech with 102 career pass attempts. The gamble may be why 247Sports rated Florida’s transfer portal class 28th in this cycle, a spot below a similarly spiraling rival, Florida State. Philo projects atop the depth chart, especially considering Florida’s new offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, hails from Georgia Tech as well. But Florida’s backup last year, Tramell Jones Jr., rotated reps with Philo in the spring’s first open viewing period.
“Everybody is going to get what they earn,” Sumrall said. “There is no starting quarterback yet.”
Aidan Warner, a name that elicits something akin to wartime flashbacks in Gainesville, is also a distant third. Since his 12-for-25, two-interception start against Texas in 2024 — oh, how long ago that feels — both Billy Napier’s and Sumrall’s staffs have raved about his improvement.
New No. 1 target?
The reason most fans remain optimistic is the sheer amount of skill position talent Florida retained surrounding its quarterback.
A duo of freshman receivers was the Gators’ primary offensive contributors during their season from hell last fall, and both are back. Vernell Brown III paced the offense … with 512 yards. He was an easy pitch: Dad was a Gator. The Z to his X (position lingo), Dallas Wilson, missed eight games with a foot injury. And he might actually be the better of the two; at least the stronger NFL prospect at 6-foot-3. After Sumrall’s season at Tulane ended in the first round of the College Football Playoff, he made a Christmas-week dash between the family dinners and present openings of Florida’s stars. Wilson was among them, and in a twist, he re-signed on New Year’s Eve.
He seems like the top target entering his second season, if healthy — which is a true caveat with him. Florida’s doing everything it can to make sure it gets a full second season.
“I’ve had guys with similar issues, and I want to make sure we do everything we can to get him extremely healed,” Sumrall said. “If we had a game this week, he’s practicing, but I’ve got a pretty good pulse of what he’s about. … So we’re gonna be smart and tough there.”
Florida also added Auburn transfer Eric Singleton in the portal, who tallied over 1,400 receiving yards at Georgia Tech in 2023 and 2024.
Where are the Miami boys?
Late last season, when Florida was 25-deep at cornerback (at least, it felt that way when Cormani McClain went down against Tennessee), South Florida freshmen defensive backs Ben Hanks III and J’Vari Flowers both got significant run. The return of McClain and Dijon Johnson, who will get starter reps after recovering from a knee injury, means the SoFlo boys are fighting for playing time again.
In Sumrall’s “unending” atmosphere, that might not be the end of the world.
“He’s very, very hands-on,’’ edge Jayden Woods said. Having spent the winter training with their new coach, the Gators seem more focused on the process than the result. That, as mentioned, is all talk. But it doesn’t hurt to have some early buy-in.
“I love the intensity,’’ linebacker Myles Graham added. “I love how engaged he is.”