In Buster Faulkner's offense, there is a time and a place to grip it and rip it

Aaron Philo hands the ball off at practice in August (Photo by Chris Spears)

Grip it and rip it.

In Buster Faulkner’s offense, particularly with a group of receivers that rank among the fastest and most talented in all of college football, there will always be the temptation for the quarterback let it fly and go for the big play. Faulkner, more of a self-professed horizontal passer back in his college days at Valdosta State, doesn’t mind that mentality in his quarterbacks now that his own football journey has taken him to Gainesville, where he is Florida’s offensive coordinator. He won two national championships at Georgia coaching up former walk-on Stetson Bennett IV into a grip it and rip it guy who threw as pretty a deep ball as you would find anywhere in the college ranks. In three years as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech he transformed Haynes King from a run first, pass second QB into a dual threat capable of breaking down defenses with downfield darts.

Pre-Faulkner, neither Bennett nor King were thought of as pro prospects, but both find themselves on NFL rosters today. The last two stops have cemented Faulkner as some sort of quarterback whisperer who gets to test out his philosophies as a play caller and offense designer Saturday at The Swamp when the Gators play host to Florida Atlantic (7:45 p.m., SEC Network).

At Georgia, Faulkner worked for Kirby Smart and directly under offensive coordinator Todd Monken. At Georgia Tech, the head coach was Brent Key, a former offensive lineman who favors a running game supplemented by a vertical passing game. Upon taking the Florida job, first-year head coach Jon Sumrall gave Faulkner a blank canvas to install a productive, efficient offense equally capable of grinding out first downs as it is chunk plays in the passing game.

To make that work, Faulkner’s focus since arriving is to adapt his offensive philosophy to the talents of Aaron Philo, who followed him to Florida from Georgia Tech, and Tramell Jones, last year’s backup to DJ Lagway at Florida. New system, new coach, two new quarterbacks, both of them with limited experience. That’s a recipe for growing pains, many of which have already been ironed out in the months since spring practice, enough so that Faulkner has given the starting edge to Philo with Jones right on his heels.

“We're pleased with where Philo's at, really pleased where Tramell's at, where he's come a long way since spring,” Faulkner said Tuesday. “Really excited about the growth of both of them and the quarterback position's all about development, right? So we're gonna continue to develop those guys and right now, Aaron gives the best chance to win football games. So that's kind of where we're at with that.”

Philo spent the previous two years working with Faulkner at Georgia Tech where he was King’s backup. Philo got one start (2025 against D1AA Gardner-Webb, 59-12 Georgia Tech win) but his signature moment came as a true freshman in 2024 when he stepped in when King was injured and led the Yellow Jackets to a come-from-behind 30-29 win over North Carolina State.

Philo’s experience with Faulkner gave him an advantage over Jones in the spring.

“Early on, if you had made a decision after the first week of spring, yeah, that would have been it,” Faulkner said. “But it didn't come down to that, right? I thought Tramell did a phenomenal job of – you know, getting better at the things that he needed to get better at over the summer. And look, he's still a young guy, didn't play a lot as a senior, hadn't played a lot yet, but I anticipate him having a great career. Whenever that number's called, I believe that he'll be ready to play.”

Both Faulkner and Sumrall are pleased with the way both Philo and Jones have developed since the spring, enough so that Sumrall said Monday he believes the Gators can win with either one at quarterback. They both have strong enough arms to make every throw. Both are athletic enough to turn a potentially negative play into a drive-extending play with their feet. And, both have a grasp on an offense that Faulkner has tailored to the talents of both his quarterbacks and the outstanding skill people in the running backs, wide receivers and tight ends rooms.

Some things the Gators do this fall might bear a resemblance to the two years Faulkner spent coaching quarterbacks at Georgia. Others might look quite the same as the past three years at Georgia Tech, but this isn’t a one size fits all approach. The offense has been adapted to the skills of the quarterbacks and supporting casts.

“We've got a totally different looking receiver room, tight end room, running back room, different quarterback room than I had at the last place,” Faulkner said. “So, there's a lot of things that we're doing that we didn't do at the last place.”

The last place didn’t have Jadan Baugh, who makes everybody’s short list of the best running backs in the country. The last place had some good receivers but not as many as there are at Florida and certainly not as fast. The talent on hand is certain to ignore the obvious sure thing play to light up the defense with the kind of throw that backs the linebackers and safeties out of the box, which, in turn, creates space and alleys in which to throw the football.

When that happens, it’s time to grip it and rip it, which has a lot to do with why Philo is the starting quarterback.

“He has a unique ability to cut it loose, right?” Faulkner said. “And that's a trait that you want all your quarterbacks to have. And then we've got to do a good job of honing him in because he's not afraid to rip it. The guy ripped it. I watched him in high school for three years, set all kinds of records, throwing the ball all over the place. Trust what you see. He sees leverage really well, you know, and pull the trigger.”

The key here is knowing when to grip it and rip it. The same holds true for quarterbacks running the ball. Bennett at Georgia was a pure pocket passer who was smart enough to know when to tuck and run. The Georgia Tech offense included entire packages for King to run the ball so throwing the ball downfield was a way to put the linebackers and safeties on their heels.

Both Bennett and King were excellent decision-makers. It is Faulkner’s experience that Philo can see the field and know instinctively what to do. Long gainers are nice, but so are plays that move the chains and keep the possession going. It is critical to know and understand what each situation calls for.

“You can be a good runner if you're just decisive,” Faulkner said. “You make the right read. You hit it vertical. We don't need 30-yard gains. We need 10-yard gains. And he's really decisive. He makes good decisions in that when we ask him to do it. It won't look like what people think it was at the last place, but if he's called on to do it, he can do it. And really, all of them [quarterbacks on the UF roster] can. So yeah, he's good enough that what we would need him to do there.”

Philo and Jones are the trigger men to an offense that hasn’t been proven yet. While there are dynamic returning players such as Jadan Baugh, Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, critical jobs as starters and backups will be filled by inexperienced returnees and transfers. There are a lot of moving parts that haven’t had time to mesh together but Faulkner sees the potential.

“I have high expectations as well,” he said. “Yeah, we're going to have a young quarterback. We've got some weapons around them, some guys that have played a lot of ball in other places but haven't played a lot of ball here. We haven't played a lot of ball together so we're still a work in progress. We're nowhere near a finished product, but  we're going to continue to strive every day to be the best we can be. I'll tell you this, I thoroughly enjoy the group of guys we have on offense. It's an awesome group. I love being around them. They take hard coaching. They want to be coached. So we're pushing them through all the things that it takes to get the program to where you want it to be. And like I said, we're nowhere near that, but we're going to continue to work to get there. “

Faulkner on head coach Jon Sumrall: “His leadership is second to none, as good as I've been around. I've been very fortunate over the last few years to work for some guys that were really good. His leadership, his ability to get in the front of the team and motivate is it's fun to watch. I'm thankful to be a part of it … to me, the best thing about his leadership is he asks, asks for input … When he asks, I'll, I'll give my input, you know, and that's what he hired me to do, so it's a great dynamic. We’ve got a great staff. We’ve got a bunch of guys that are going to be coordinators. We've got future head coaches. We've got some young guys that are bringing a lot of energy and ideas and keep us creative on offense. It's a total group effort, but it starts with his leadership.”

Faulkner on the Florida coaching staff: “I'm very, very particular about, you know, who I work for and who I work with. I want to work with great men first and foremost. I want to work for a great guy. When you take football out of it, what kind of person is he? And Jon's unbelievable. It's just the same with the staff. So there's a bunch of guys with a bunch of bright futures. We got a great guys that have been coordinators on offense. It was real similar at the other place … we're about to tee this thing up here in a few days and we'll see how it goes, but it's a great group to come to work with each and every day.”