New UF football coach Jon Sumrall spoke to the crowd at halftime of Saturday's basketball game. (Photo: Bella Rosa/UAA Communications)
Sumrall Leaned On Faulkner In Acquiring QB Philo, Plus What He Said About Logos
Saturday, January 24, 2026 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Gators head coach Jon Sumrall on Saturday made his first appearance in front of Gator Nation since his introductory press conference almost eight weeks ago.
Sumrall spoke to the crowd for about 90 seconds during Saturday's Florida-Auburn men's basketball game at the O'Dome. Afterward, he huddled up with a group of beat writers who wanted to know what the transition from Tulane to Florida had been like.
"Not a whole lot of slow motion. Sleepless nights, good ones and a couple of bad ones, but mainly good ones,'' he said. "Once we were done at Tulane – you never want to lose – but I did wake up the next morning and tell my wife that it's nice to have one job now."
Sumrall shared stories about visiting running back Jadan Baugh on Christmas Eve – with Sumrall's family in tow, including his mom and her dog – and flying to Kansas City to visit defensive lineman Jayden Woods and his family.
Sumrall said keeping Baugh, Woods and other key players on the roster "makes coaching a lot easier."
"Clearly, the most important thing to me was trying to retain our best players,'' he said. "That part was critical for us to have any opportunity to have success next year. Fired up about the direction we're headed. There's still some major areas of concern I have on this roster, but we've got to develop everybody we've got to be their best. And try to get this football team ready."
Meanwhile, former Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo is the most prominent acquisition since Sumrall took over. Philo, who was courtside with Baugh at Saturday's game, spent the past two seasons as Haynes King's backup. He completed 57.8 percent of his passes (59 of 102) for 938 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions with the Yellow Jackets in limited playing time.
When former Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner departed to join Sumrall at Florida, he targeted Philo as a player he wanted to add to the Gators' quarterback room to compete with redshirt freshman Tramell Jones Jr. in the wake of DJ Lagway's exit.
"Buster had extreme confidence in him. As I did my homework, I think the place he was at, they didn't want him to leave,'' Sumrall said. "There's a lot of people there who felt like he was ready to be the starter there, and I trust our offensive coordinator to make the call."
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Philo arrived at Georgia Tech as the all-time passing leader in Georgia prep history with 13,922 passing yards, breaking the record previously held by former Clemson star and current Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Sumrall was familiar with Philo before hiring Faulkner.
Gators football coach Jon Sumrall with his family at Saturday's Florida-Auburn game. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
"I watched him in high school. He carries himself the right way,'' Sumrall said. "And I go back to past experiences. We started Darian Mensah my first year at Tulane, and he had never taken a collegiate snap. I got it, it's the American Conference and not the SEC, right? So, they're a little bit different. But man, if you've got the right guy, sometimes I think experience can be oversold. There's a lot of guys that are experienced who are not very good."
As Sumrall learned more about Philo from Faulkner's two seasons with him at Georgia Tech, he was eager to sign him.
"I believe in what he's about because Buster feels comfortable with him and has confidence in what he is going to be."
And Sumrall said not to forget about Jones, who completed 21 of 35 for 191 yards and two scores in two appearances as a true freshman. Jones replaced Lagway in the second half of a loss at Kentucky in his most extensive experience.
"Tramell, 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 that I think can help us win football games here? Yeah. Now, we've got a lot of work to do to figure out what that looks like, and who's the starter and all that stuff. We're a long way from making that decision. They'll make it for us. The quarterback competition, they decide who starts, not me, by how they practice and how they play."
The immediate task is building a team culture in the offseason focused on "toughness, confidence, discipline, accountability, grit," Sumrall said. "We are going to put them through some things they have not experienced."
For starters, the Gators have started offseason conditioning drills without logos.
"Gotta earn it. You gotta earn the logo, man,'' Sumrall said. "We ain't earned it yet. We haven't earned a damn thing. All we've got is our name … to wear the Florida Gator logo, to wear the 'Gators' across your helmet in script, or to wear the Gator head, you gotta earn that."
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