The Florida Gators are rolling with Aaron Philo at quarterback as new head coach Jon Sumrall looks to bring the football program back to national prominence.
Philo entered fall camp in a quarterback battle with second-year signal-caller Tramell Jones Jr.
He’s expected to make his Florida debut against Florida Atlantic on Sept. 5, as he transferred to Gainesville after a year at Georgia Tech.
Notably, Philo being named the starter was expected because he worked with new Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner when both were at Georgia Tech.
It’s official now, though.
“We are preparing for him to be the starter for Week 1,” Sumrall said on Monday, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.
So who is the new starting quarterback for the Gators?
Aaron Philo was an accomplished high school quarterback in Georgia
Checking in at 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, Philo is from Bogart, Georgia. He was a three-star recruit in the class of 2024, and 247Sports ranked him as the No. 47 quarterback in the country.
Playing for Prince Avenue Christian School, he broke the state record with 13,922 career passing yards. The previous record holder was Trevor Lawrence.
Philo threw for 4,596 of those yards as a senior while also throwing for a single-season state record 56 touchdowns.
Philo committed to Brent Key and the Yellow Jackets out of high school, and after taking a redshirt in 2024, he was the main backup to Haynes King in 2025.
He played in three games for GT last season and completed 21-of-28 passes for 373 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Most of his playing time came when he started against Gardner-Webb in Week 2.
Per Thamel, Philo is well-versed in Faulkner’s offense, which includes many pre-snap shifts and motions.
“I would say it’s probably the biggest differentiating factor has just been being able to maybe get us into the right call, out of the wrong call, check things, alert things, kill things off of defensive pictures, and then maybe see the middle of the field a little bit more in the throw game,” Sumrall said. “But both guys have done a lot of great things, but that’s probably been the biggest difference. It’s just operational.”
