Sumrall happy to let the quarterback competition play itself out

Aaron Philo (12) and Tramell Jones (9) await a rep at QB (Photo by Chris Spears)

If you hold your breath waiting for Jon Sumrall to name a starting quarterback for the Gators’ season opener with Florida Atlantic four Saturdays from now, you’ll turn blue, pass out and the paramedics will have to be called to revive you. Sumrall has a competitive war being waged between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. for the No. 1 job, which suits him just fine but to give the edge to one or the other? Well, that’s just not going to happen any time soon.

“Are we ready to name a starter today?” Sumrall asked rhetorically Monday morning at his weekly press conference at the Heavener Football Center. He answered his own question with a no, then admitted “the week of the first game, I may not come out and have some big formal announcement who QB1 is.”

There is method to his madness and it dates back to the first year of his first head coaching gig at Troy, where he inherited Gunnar Watson, starter in the final seven games the year before, and added Jarret Doege, who arrived with more than 10,000 passing yards to his credit as a multi-year starter first at Bowling Green, then at West Virginia. The competition brought out the best in them as they combined for 3,393 yards and 19 touchdown passes to lead Troy to a 12-2 record and the Sun Belt Conference championship.

The competition between Watson and Doege turned into a positive situation.  

“It worked out really well because Gunnar played good at times, and then he got hurt, and Jarret came in and played pretty good,” Sumrall recalled. “And then one of them wouldn't play good and one time one of them came over to me and was like, Coach, give him his shot. I'm not playing real good right now. And the other guy went in and won the game. And then we start the other guy that he played bad and put the other guy in and we go win the game.”

Injuries happen, slumps happen, sometimes a quarterback, like a starting pitcher, just can’t throw strikes or read a zone defense spelled CAT even if you spot him the C, the A and the T. That’s when QB1 needs a QB1A.

There is precedent for two quarterbacks to work well together at Florida. Steve Spurrier alternated Doug Johnson and Noah Brindise to knock then No. 2 Florida State out of contention for the national championship game, then used both quarterbacks effectively in the Citrus Bowl when the Gators bushwhacked Penn State. Jesse Palmer started the 2000 season as the No. 1 QB but when the offense stagnated, Rex Grossman took over as the starter.

Sumrall recalled 2006 when Chris Leak was the No. 1 QB, but Tebow was essentially the designated runner. That tandem worked well enough together that the Urban Meyer-coached Gators beat Ohio State to win the national championship.

“I showed our team this video,” Sumrall said. “I don't know if you guys saw this, but Tim Tebow spoke in an interview about his wanting to be the guy here in ‘06 when Chris Leak was the starter, but he's like, I didn't want to see Chris fail. I wanted Chris to do well. I just wanted to do better. Like you, you want to, yeah, you want to compete with the other guy and outperform me, but you don't, you don't want to elevate yourself and you really don't elevate as an individual because somebody else isn't doing well. That just means somebody else didn't do well.”

Friendly, healthy competition fueled by mutual respect and a burning desire for the team to win is the best way for two quarterbacks to thrive while sending off constant, positive vibes to the rest of the team. From what spring football, the summer OTAs and four days of fall practice are telling Sumrall, he has that kind of situation brewing as Philo and Jones compete for the starting job.

Philo arrived in January from Georgia Tech, where he spent two years backing up Haynes King in a highly productive scheme designed by now Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. He had a start and some productive relief efforts at Tech, so it has been near consensus opinion that he will be the starter when toe hits football against FAU on September 5. Philo has a quick release and is a decisive, instinctive runner.

Jones, who toiled as DJ Lagway’s backup last season when he played in four games while taking a redshirt, has all the makings of a dynamic passer. Although he didn’t get to show off his running skills in Billy Napier’s rather methodical offense, offseason work with strength and conditioning guru Rusty Whitt has increased his speed on the treadmill to a most impressive 22 miles per hour.

While going at it on a daily basis whether in the film room or on the field, Philo and Jones have formed a mutual admiration society which settles well with Sumrall.

“What I want is both of them to do really well and one guy get to start, get to start because he was just a tad better during training camp in spring,” Sumrall said. “That'd be beautiful. I don't want one guy to, do okay and the other guy be terrible and then it's like we had one guy just did okay and one guy did terrible and we're gonna start the guy was just okay like so they look they both competitive in nature they both want to be the guy if they did we'd have a problem they're both in a great spot they compete with each other well they lift with each other in the same rack they encourage each other they challenge each other they compete with each other but nobody rises because you push another guy down And so, you know, the old adage, iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.

“I'm a firm believer that like great people, if you're a really high achiever, you know what motivates you? Other people also being successful. If you're a loser or if you're a fixed mindset or you're a soft person, man, you're intimidated by other people's success. So I want our quarterback room …  I want all of them to be motivated by somebody else's success, not intimidated. And somebody will go out and take the ball game one, and I expect the guy who does to still be humble about his approach and work his tail off. And the guy that doesn't, I expect him to know, hey, I'm going to be one play away from being put in the game and prepare like a starter because you never know when your opportunity is coming.”

Injury report: There are the usual dings and soft tissue injuries but so far only redshirt sophomore backup running back Kelvin Jimenez and freshman defensive tackle Kendall Geurvil have sustained anything substantial. Jimenez suffered his injury in Saturday’s practice. Sumrall said he will be “out for awhile.” Guervil suffered a knee injury in high school that has flared up, causing Sumrall to say, “Just don’t know the full extent of that yet so he’s currently out.”

Others on the injury list are redshirt junior tight end Evan Chieca, a transfer from New Haven; senior defensive lineman Kam James;  redshirt freshman running back Duke Clark; senior tight end and Jacksonville transfer Jaylen Jordan; freshman safety Kaiden Hall; freshman wide receiver Marquez Daniel; and freshman corner CJ Bronaugh.

“Those are the guys that have kind of been limited in some nature,” Sumrall said. “Some guys are close to return. Those last set of guys and Chieca are guys that I don't foresee them being out for any game action, barring something that doesn't go right. But they're guys that right now have some sort of limitation at practice. Some could be back in a couple days, some could be back in a week or two, but don't see any of them being out for a game week as of right now. So nothing substantial, just normal wear and tear from training camp.”