When it came to finding a quarterback Sumrall trusted Buster and it paid off
Trust was put to the ultimate test back in January. Having spent the month of December juggling two jobs – head coach at Tulane where he led the Green Wave to the American Conference championship and the College Football Playoff while prepping to take over full time as the head coach at Florida – Jon Sumrall was shopping for a quarterback. DJ Lagway, who two years earlier was ranked the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country, wasn’t coming back to Florida after going 4-8 while starting all 12 games in 2025. Sumrall was left to play college football’s equivalent of Let’s Make a Deal. He already knew what he had behind doors one and two – Tramell Jones Jr., Lagway’s backup and a redshirt freshman; and Will Griffin, a big-armed 4-star from Tampa who was in Sumrall’s first Florida recruiting class a couple of weeks earlier.
Door Number Three was the mystery and that’s where trust came into play. Buster Faulkner, whom Sumrall had plucked from Georgia Tech to be his offensive coordinator, wanted Aaron Philo, who had spent the last two years at Tech backing up Haynes King. Philo had one start under his belt, which paled in comparison to some of the experienced quarterbacks in the portal. Sumrall decided to sink or swim with Faulkner’s guy.
“When you don’t have a whole lot of evidence or proof, maybe from a large body of work, it was one of those things where I had to take Buster’s word to some degree on that,” Sumrall said back on Monday. “But, at the same time, if you’re going to hire a guy to be your coordinator, you need to be able to take their word on some things and trust them, so I trusted Buster with that. I knew who Aaron was, but I didn’t know Aaron, and then really, ever since Aaron’s arrival, he’s proved nothing but consistent, tough, dependable, reliable, great teammate, the intangible things that are outside of playing the quarterback position that are just as important to playing the quarterback position. You can have the biggest arm and run and do all those things well, but if you don’t have the intangibles at quarterback it’s really hard to be a great player.”
Trust has been rewarded. With Philo as the starting quarterback the Gators are off to a 4-0 start, executing their first perfect September since 2019. Heading into Saturday’s game on the road at No. 25 Missouri (3:30 p.m., ABC), Philo has had some spectacular moments, but mostly he has been the picture of efficiency. He’s thrown for 917 yards (10.5 yards per attempt) while completing 72.4 percent of his passes. He has thrown for seven touchdowns and run for three while directing an offense that is putting up 53.5 points and 532.8 yards per game.
Not bad for a quarterback that Athlon ranked No. 13 in the SEC and USA Today had No. 14 prior to the season. Among the quarterbacks ranked ahead of Philo in the Athlon rankings were usual suspects Arch Manning (Texas), Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss) and Gunner Stockton (Georgia), but other notables included Marcel Reed (Texas A&M), John Mateer (Oklahoma), Byrum Brown (Auburn), Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State), Austin Simmons (Missouri) and Faizon Brandon (Tennessee). In the USA Today rankings, the only two quarterbacks below Philo were KJ Jackson (Arkansas) and Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt), a true freshman.
When Phil Steele ranked the quarterback rooms nationally for his preseason magazine, Florida didn’t even make the top 70. SEC teams listed in the top 70 were (2) Texas; (4) Georgia; (5) Oklahoma; (9) Auburn; (16) Texas A&M; (22) LSU; (25) South Carolina; (38) Alabama; (54) Mississippi State; and (70) Missouri.
Wednesday, ESPN posted its quarterback rankings for all 68 Power 4 football teams. Here are the top 12: (1) Darian Mensah (Miami); (2) CJ Carr (Notre Dame); (3) Julian Sayin (Ohio State); (4) Trinidad Chambliss (Ole Miss); (5) Kamario Taylor (Mississippi State); (6) Jayden Maiava, Southern Cal; (7) Keelon Russell (Alabama); (8) Gunner Stockton (Georgia); (9) Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State); (10) Lincoln Kienholz (Louisville); (11) Kevin Jennings (SMU); and (12) Aaron Philo, FLORIDA. The other SEC quarterbacks are: (19) Sam Leavitt (LSU); (29) Arch Manning (Texas); (30) Austin Simmons (Missouri); (35) Byrum Brown (Auburn); (42) Faizon Brandon (Tennessee); (45) Jared Curtis (Vanderbilt); (48) John Mateer (Oklahoma); (49) LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina); (54) Kenny Michey (Kentucky); (60) Marcel Reed (Texas A&M); and (65) KJ Jackson (Arkansas).
From barely a blip on the radar to No. 12 nationally with time enough to climb and a favorable schedule for Florida to finish in the top 10 and make the College Football Playoff, Aaron Philo is proving a lot of people wrong. The experts rave about Trinidad Chambliss and rightfully so. There is no questioning his talent and by season’s end he is likely to have stratospheric numbers to back his case for winning the Heisman Trophy. Thanks to Will Muschamp’s defense, Arch Manning has a chance to lead Texas to an unbeaten season. Julian Sayin gets to throw to Jeremiah Smith. Meanwhile, Aaron Philo is called to pass less than 22 times per game on the average, not conducive to making the Heisman podium.
How does Aaron Philo compete for publicity and Heisman consideration with those guys? He doesn’t. He simply goes about his business of leading the Gators efficiently. Philo figures to finish middle of the pack statistically in the SEC, but the Gators have a legitimate shot at making the playoff for the first time. He will take the wins over stats every single time.
Florida injury report: Wide receivers Vernell Brown III and Bailey Stockton are both listed as questionable for Missouri.
ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC
No. 7 Alabama (4-0, 2-0 SEC): Right tackle Jayvin James is listed as questionable for Mississippi State. Defensive back Zavier Mincey is listed as probable. Out are linebackers Justin Hill, Cayden Jones and Desmond Umeozulu, defensive backs Nick Sherman and Jorden Edmonds, and defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman.
Arkansas (2-2, 0-1 SEC): JACK linebacker Jamonta Waller is out for Saturday’s game at Texas A&M while Steven Soles Jr. is listed as questionable. Also out are defensive back John House IV and tight end Maddox Lassiter.
Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC): Out for Tennessee are offensive lineman Tai Buster and tight end Hunter Herring.
No. 2 Georgia (4-0, 2-0 SEC): Out for Vandy are outside linebacker Amaris Williams, safety Tyriq Green and offensive lineman Marcus Harrison. Listed as questionable are running back Nate Frazier, wide receiver Isaiah Canion and outside linebacker Chase Linton.
No. 24 Kentucky (3-1, 1-1 SEC): Out for South Carolina is defensive back Grant Grayson. Wide receiver DJ Miller and long snapper Cole Marszalek are doubtful while offensive lineman Jay Clark is questionable. Probable is safety Jordan Castell.
No. 11 LSU (3-1, 1-1 SEC): The injury to Whit Weeks has thrust Davhon Keys into a starting job at linebacker. Jhase Thomas is now starting at safety after the season-ending injury to Dashawn Spears.
No. 16 Mississippi State (4-0, 2-0 SEC): Out for Alabama are wide receiver Ayden Williams and defensive linemen Trevion Williams and Diesel Moye. Linebacker Zakari Tilliman is listed as questionable while safety Isaac Smith and running back Fluff Bothwell are considered probable.
No. 25 Missouri (3-1, 0-1 SEC): Out for Florida are safety JaDon Blair, running backs Ahmad Hardy and Malae Fonoti, offensive lineman Josh Atkins and tight end Gavin Hoffman. Questionable are EDGE Langden Kitchen, linebacker Bobby Washington Jr. and EDGE Darris Smith.
Oklahoma (2-2, 0-1 SEC): Defensive lineman David Stone, who dislocated his kneecap at practice last week but played a few days later at Georgia.
No. 9 Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1 SEC): The Rebels are hoping the open date will give running back Kewan Lacy time to heal his injured shoulder. Lacy missed the loss to Florida.
South Carolina (2-2, 0-2 SEC): Out are EDGE Dylan Steward, EDGE Kobby Sakyi-Prah, defensive back Jalwewis Solomon, wide receiver Jayden Sellers and linebacker A.J. Holloway. Defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy is listed as questionable.
No. 17 Tennessee (3-1, 0-1 SEC): Listed out for Auburn are tight end Ethan Davis, wide receiver Joakin Dodson, linebacker Jaedon Harmon, defensive backs Edrees Farooq and Dylan Lewis, defensive lineman Kedric Golston II, and offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr. Doubtful is running back Javin Gordon. Questionable is offensive lineman Shamurad Umarov. Defensive lineman Nathan Robinson is listed as probable.
No. 1 Texas (4-0, 1-0 SEC): Texas hopes to get running back Hollywood Smothers and wide receiver Cam Coleman healthy during the open week.
Texas A&M (2-2, 0-2 SEC): Wide receiver Terry Bussey is out against Arkansas, while Mario Carver is listed as questionable.
Vanderbilt (3-1, 0-1 SEC): Starting quarterback Jared Curtis is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game at Georgia. Out for the game are linebacker Jamison Curtis, corner Jaylin Lackey and defensive linemen Aaron Bryant and Nikhil Jefferson.
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