Don't count out Tramell Jones Jr. in Florida Gators QB competition

GAINESVILLE — It would have been so easy and so simple for Tramell Jones Jr. to move on. Away from the Florida football program. Away from the coaching staff that didn’t recruit him. Away from the transfer quarterback who has ties to the new offensive coordinator. Hit the transfer portal and press the reset button.

Turns out, the easy way isn’t Jones’ preferred path.

He embraces the tough stuff instead of running away from it.

Why else stay with the Gators other than a self-belief he can help turn around this program?

“I always wanted to be a Florida Gator,” Jones said after practice Tuesday, March 24. “I dreamed of playing here and I was a fan when I was smaller.”

Jones, a Jacksonville native who played at Mandarin High School, wanted to stay a Gator even after coach Jon Sumrall hired offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who in turn brought quarterback Aaron Philo with him from Georgia Tech.

Pretty rare loyalty to the program and commitment to making it work, isn’t it?

“Coach Sumrall and Coach Faulkner gave me the opportunity to come here and compete and that’s the thing I wanted to do,” Jones said. “Staying was really a no-brainer for me.”

Learning while watching as freshman

Jones should have been given a chance to replace DJ Lagway during the Gators’ debacle-of-a-2025-season. Turns out, the stubbornness of coach Billy Napier may have helped Sumrall and general manager Dave Caldwell keep Jones. Teams didn’t have enough tape to make a firm conclusion on if Jones was worth a significant portal money investment.

The new Florida staff wanted to retain Jones because they believed he had the tools to fit Faulkner’s scheme and they also like his approach.

“A natural moxie guy,” was how Sumrall described Jones. “He has a quiet confidence about him. He’s very easy to relate to and gravitate to.”

Jones was quiet last season, partly because Napier banned true freshmen from doing interviews (talk about a coach who worried about the wrong things) and he didn’t see the field, completing 21 of his 35 attempts for two touchdowns.

By observing and practicing, Jones set the table for success this year.

“The speed (of the game), for sure,” he said. “The SEC is different. In practice, you always take your reps like they’re game reps so when I got into the game, I knew I would be prepared no matter what.”

I asked Jones what makes Faulkner’s system a good fit for him.

“It tailors to the type of quarterback I am,” Jones said. “I want to win in the pocket, but can move when needed.”

What Jones needs more than anything are live snaps. He broke his leg in Week 2 as a high school senior, which also kept him out of the Gators’ spring season in 2025. And after he beat out Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey in fall camp for the No. 2 quarterback spot, Jones rarely played.

So far in spring practice, Sumrall said Philo and Jones have split the snaps with the top two offensive units.

“Similar to Philo, Tramell can make all the throws,” Sumrall said. “He runs effectively; neither one of them are run-first quarterbacks, but they have the ability to run (to extend plays) and do some quarterback run-game things.”

Competition driving Philo, too

If we have learned anything about Sumrall’s program since he was hired in December, it’s he wants a merit-based culture. It doesn’t matter how many recruiting stars you received or how much experience you have or the price of your NIL check, the best player will play. Period. It reminds me of how Liam Coen is leading the Jacksonville Jaguars, and we know how well it worked for him (13-4 record).

Sumrall’s approach gives Jones more than a puncher’s chance at winning the starting quarterback job entering the Gators’ Sept. 5 opener against Florida Atlantic.

“I like the (quarterbacks in the) room,” Sumrall said. “Do we know who starter is today? No. No clue. We have a long way to go to identify who’s going to be the triggerman and get the opportunity to start in Game 1.”

Philo doesn’t have a wide bank of experience to lean on, either. He attempted 102 passes in two years for the Yellow Jackets and started only one game.

But Sumrall admitted Philo “obviously has some familiarity with the system, which gives him a little bit of a jump start on where you are in the progression of operating with the offense.”

Philo wasn’t promised anything and basically gave up starting at Georgia Tech to follow Faulkner to Gainesville.

“I’m a firm believer in competition making everybody better,” said Philo, 20. “When you’re competing against multiple people, you’re going to push yourself more than if you were given something.”

The Jon Sumrall Gators are going to be Team Must Earn Everything. The more efficient quarterback in fall camp will start.

“One of them will have to be the starter in Game 1 and will have to earn it,” Sumrall said. “Both are doing a great job, they really are. Both of them are doing things that excite you and feel like we can play winning football with either.”

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida Gators QB race: Tramell Jones Jr. embraces competition