Florida OC Sends Interesting Message Around Aaron Philo Expectations

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The Jon Sumrall era for the Florida Gators will officially open this weekend when the team takes on Florida Atlantic.

2026 represents a very crucial year for this program after multiple seasons of underperforming. Florida has just one winning season in its last five years, so the program is looking tog et back to national relevance.

The hire of Sumrall has been seen as a strong one, even with there being questions around how he will handle an SEC school coming from Tulane. But ahead of the season, Sumrall has named Aaron Philo as the starting quarterback.

Philo, a transfer from Georgia Tech, will now be tasked with bringing this team back to dominance this season. But even the coaching staff knows that the team will have to take things one game at a time with him.

Gators' offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner opened up about the expectations around Philo entering the pivotal season.

“It is a young room, with that comes growing pains,” Faulkner said. “But the one thing that we don’t want any of those guys doing is playing timid. We want them to rip it, trust what they see, get out there, go play the game, understand (they have) guys around them to go make plays.”

At Georgia Tech, Philo appeared in eight games over two years. In this time, he completed 59-of-102 passes for 938 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.  

Philo has shown a tendency to put the ball into harm's way during games, so he will need to make sure to limit turnovers. Playing in the SEC is an entirely different animal than what he has been used to, and there could be a learning curve early on.

But the signal-caller won't have a long leash in all likelihood, and he'll need to step up from the get-go. Philo can make a name for himself very easily if he can perform at a high level, giving the Gators at least a chance every time out.

While his time in college hasn't been much, the Gators are looking forward to seeing what he brings to this program. Sumrall understands the pressure he has on him coming into the season, but this may be a bridge year as the new coach builds out his roster. 

After Florida Atlantic, the Gators will host Campbell, before heading on the road to face the Auburn Tigers in the first SEC game of the season.

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