A coaching change almost always brings significant roster turnover, and Florida was no exception. The Gators lost 34 players to the transfer portal but countered by adding 28 under Jon Sumrall and his new staff.
Florida addressed key needs across the roster, adding five defensive backs, four wide receivers, three tight ends, four offensive linemen, three defensive linemen, two running backs, a quarterback, and six specialists.
It’s far too early to grade Florida’s transfer portal class; the real evaluation begins on the field.
“You never really fully know until you go through spring practice and get in season,” Sumrall said on his portal class. “I think we had some areas of need that we maybe fulfilled. I think we had some areas of need where we have to figure out where we’re at. You never really know.”
To no one’s surprise, college football continues to change at a rapid pace. The NCAA’s decision to eliminate the spring transfer portal window in 2026 means roster building is now largely set, especially for a program like Florida, as the remaining players in the portal are typically low impact options.
This makes things increasingly difficult for a first-year head coach who may not be as familiar with his current personnel.
“We don’t have the luxury of that second transfer portal window now so it’s a little more daunting,” Sumrall said. “I’m not going to have any opportunity to watch this team practice and go correct in the second portal. We just got to go watch them practice and try to fix it, or make somebody better, or maybe move guys around. That’s a little bit more unnerving.”
Aaron Philo
With DJ Lagway entering the transfer portal, adding a quarterback became a must for Sumrall. While there were plenty of talented quarterbacks available, the Gators found their guy with little to no drama.
Enter Georgia Tech’s Aaron Philo, a rising redshirt sophomore who backed up Haynes King the past two seasons.
Why did Philo end up in Gainesville? Sumrall did his homework. He also leaned on Buster Faulkner, the 2025 Offensive Coordinator of the Year, who knows Philo better than anyone.
“Buster [Faulkner] had extreme confidence in him,” Sumrall said. “The place he was at didn’t want him to leave. There’s a lot of people there that felt like he was ready to be the starter there, and I trust our offensive coordinator to make the call. I watched him in high school as well. He carries himself the right way.”
With only 102 career pass attempts and one start, Philo doesn’t bring a ton of experience to Gainesville. That said, Sumrall isn’t worried about it.
“If you get the right guy, sometimes I think experience can be oversold,” Sumrall said. “There’s a lot of guys that are experienced that aren’t very good. I believe in what he’s about because Buster feels very comfortable with him and has confidence in what he’s going to be.”
QB competition
Sumrall made one thing clear on Saturday: the job won’t be handed to Philo.
Rising redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr., who appeared in two games last year, is expected to compete for Florida’s starting quarterback job.
“Tramell (Jones Jr.), I’m excited about,” Sumrall said. “I like our quarterback room. Is there maybe a known, proven starter in that room, no. Is there guys I think can help us win football games here, yeah.”
That’s what it all comes down to: winning football games.
“Now we got a lot of work to do to figure out what that looks like, who’s the starter and all that stuff, long way from making that decision but they’ll make it for us,” Sumrall said. “The quarterback competition, they decide who starts, not me, by how they practice and how they play.”
The Florida Gators start spring practice on March 3rd.