Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. will battle it out this fall for Florida’s starting quarterback job. One question surrounding the competition is when head coach Jon Sumrall will name a starter.
In a video clip shared by On3’s Andy Staples, Sumrall said he doesn’t have a timeline for making the decision. He added that he’s already met with both quarterbacks individually and plans to meet with them together before training camp begins to ensure transparency.
“I don’t have a timeline,” Sumrall said. “I met with both those guys individually; I’ll meet with them before we start training camp together. I’ll meet with the whole room. Just because you start game one doesn’t mean you start game 12. I don’t have a timeline. My timeline may be five minutes before the game before anyone finds out.”
Using two quarterbacks isn’t unfamiliar to Sumrall. While it’s not an ideal situation—and may not even be relevant for Florida this season—he’s navigated it before. During his first season as Troy’s head coach, Sumrall relied on two quarterbacks throughout the year as injuries and inconsistent play forced him to alternate between the two.
“My first year as head coach at Troy we used two quarterbacks the entire year,” Sumrall said. “Not necessarily by design, because we had to. One of them would get hurt, then another would get hurt, then the guy would come back healthy and wouldn’t play good, then we’d put the other guy in. I don’t love the quarterback shuffle deal, but I don’t have a blueprint for how it’s going to go. We’re going to do what we have to do to try and help position Florida football to win games.”
For Philo, this is his third year in college, and all three seasons have come with Buster Faulkner as his offensive coordinator.
“Philo has been in the system with Buster at Georgia Tech, so he’s maybe got time on task with what we’re going on offense,” Sumrall said. “He’s got a really quick release, strong arm, good decision maker, and can run.”
Jones Jr. is back for his second season after appearing in two games as a freshman. Sumrall said he’s become more comfortable in the offense over the summer.
“Tramell is squarely in the middle of that quarterback competition if you will. They are competing with each other. But Tramell is a fantastic young man, works extremely hard in his own right. I think has really grown more comfortable with the offense through the summer.”
Sumrall has emphasized that Philo and Jones Jr. aren’t competing against one another as much as they’re competing to make the team better. Throughout the offseason, the two quarterbacks have embraced the competition while continuing to support one another, something Sumrall believes is essential to maintaining a healthy quarterback room.
“Both guys have been great. They lift from the same rack together in the weight room. They push each other, they challenge each other, they support each other, they got each other’s back, they’re gonna fight for each other,” Sumrall said. “The quickest way, and they know this, the quickest way either one of them could lose the job is be a bad teammate. So they’re great teammates. They’ve been awesome with each other.”