Florida coach: QB doesn't 'need to be Tim Tebow'

TAMPA, Florida -- Florida coach Jon Sumrall arrives at the school amid the program sputtering through four losing seasons in the last five years. While Sumrall has delivered a jolt of optimism and energy in his first offseason, perhaps the biggest decision of his tenure looms in the upcoming camp: Who will be the Gators' starting quarterback? The camp battle will be between Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo and second-year Gator Tramell Jones Jr. Sumrall said whoever wins will be surrounded by talent and can play within themselves and accentuate the Gators' skill position players. "None of them need to be Tim Tebow," Sumrall said, referencing Florida's Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion. "They need to be somebody that just manages a game and operates the right way at the line scrimmage and doesn't turn the football over. We've got decent skill players around the quarterback position with Jadan Baugh and the receiver group." Sumrall described them both as having similar skill sets. Philo played at Georgia Tech for two years under current Gator offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, which gave him an advantage in spring. Jones arrived as a highly-touted dual-threat quarterback who picked Florida in 2024 after de-committing from Florida State. Sumrall summed up the quarterback room this way: "Do we have a Heisman Trophy candidate? No, but they both have enough arm talent. They both are adequate runners. Neither one of them are elite runners. Neither one of them are slugs either. Both have good arms, both have good releases. Both can make all the throws. So there's enough there for us to win with." Philo started for Georgia Tech against Gardner-Webb last year and appeared in three games, as he backed up stalwart Haynes King. He played well in that game against an FCS opponent, completing 75% of his passes (21-of-28) for 373 yards. He threw both a touchdown and an interception. Jones played the second half of Florida's blowout loss at Kentucky last year, completing 9-of-17 for 60 yards. He also threw for 131 yards in mop up duty against LIU. Sumrall is looking for more consistency from Jones. "Philo's comfort level or confidence within what we're doing schematically is more advanced early on, and probably still is for that matter," Sumrall said. "Tramell did some really good things, through, in the spring at times. His highs were like, 'Whoa.' The problem, at times was the lows. You're like, 'Hey, we can't do that. That'll lose the game.'" Philo has been the perceived favorite because of his familiarity with Faulkner's system, which includes a kaleidoscope of pre-snap shifts and motions that compromise defenses. But Sumrall isn't afraid to make unconventional quarterbacks decisions, including the surprising pick of Darian Mensah, then an unknown redshirt freshman, over Oregon transfer Ty Thompson while at Tulane in the summer of 2024. Sumrall also played backup Brendan Sullivan in 12 games last year at Tulane, subbing him in situationally for starter Jake Retzlaff. He said Florida will likley need both quarterbacks in 2026. "I could see a scenario, for a lot of different reasons, where we're going to need both of them to perform like a starter," Sumrall said. So what will Sumrall use to determine who wins? He'll start with making sure the quarterback is a good leader, and he'll let them know that with "brutal honesty" and being so frank with them that it will "make some people uncomfortable." Sumrall said he expects to tell them: "Hey, the quickest way you'll lose this job is to be a jerk to the other guy or make it about you. You don't elevate yourself by pushing the other guy down, you elevate yourself by doing well." For a team that went 4-8 last year, Florida should have a good amount of skill to surround the starter. Baugh earned second-team All-SEC honors last year, and Sumrall is a devout discipline of the run game. He joked multiple times in his opening press conference about feeding Baugh, who ran for 1,170 and scored 10 touchdowns. "No secret to it," Sumrall said. "I want to run the football." Florida's receiver room has an argument to be the best in the league, as they have productive transfer Eric Singleton and talented underclassmen Dallas Wilson and Vernell Brown III. Wake Forest transfer Micah Mays Jr. also flashed in Florida's spring game. The concern for Florida will be the offensive line, the physical strength of which Sumrall said was his "biggest disappointment" when he took the job. The group moved so little weight in the weight room that Sumrall said he could dead lift more than some linemen. Overall, Sumrall said there's belief that Florida can revive some of its more gilded times under Urban Meyer or Steve Spurrier. "Can we get there?" he said. "I believe we can or I wouldn't have taken the job. Is it going to happen overnight? It's not going to be easy, but I think things are trending positively. Recruiting's going really good. ... Are we resourced like the top three in our league? Doubtful. Are we the bottom three in our league? Don't think we're that either. So whoever said less is more, never had less. I think more is more."