Why Buster Faulkner chose Aaron Philo as Florida’s starting quarterback
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
GAINESVILLE — Buster Faulkner doesn’t expect Aaron Philo to be flawless, but he’d better be fearless as Florida’s starting quarterback.
Faulkner, the Gators offensive coordinator, knows Philo faces a learning curve as a first-time, full-time starter. The 21-year-old also needs to rely on his instincts and training.
Same goes for 19-year-old backup Tramell Jones Jr., who lost the quarterback competition yet still could have a key role.
“It is a young room, with that comes growing pains,” Faulkner said Tuesday. “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.”
Faulkner said Philo’s consistency during a months-long competition with Jones earned him his second career college start Saturday night when the Gators host Florida Atlantic during the season opener in the Swamp.
Philo arrived from Georgia Tech with familiarity in Faulkner’s system after spending two seasons as his backup with the Yellow Jackets. But that advantage became increasingly irrelevant as Jones quickly got up to speed in the scheme, according to Faulkner.
“Early on, if you had made the decision after the first week of spring, yeah, that would have been it,” he said. “But it didn’t come down to that.”
Simply put, “Right now Aaron gives us the best chance to win football games,” Faulkner said.
Philo will be surrounded by preseason All-SEC running back Jadan Baugh leading a stable of talented tailbacks. Florida’s receiving corps, led by Vernell Brown III,Eric Singleton and Dallas Wilson, has the potential to be among the nation’s best. The Gators’ offensive line has three new starters but has developed into a dependable unit.
Head coach Jon Sumrall hired Faulkner and signed him to a three-year, $6.5 million deal to deliver the explosive offense fans expect from a program put on the map by Steve Spurrier’s Fun n’ Gun attack in the 1990s and carried on by Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin under Urban Meyer.
Other than a three-year, 29-win stretch under Dan Mullen from 2018-20, since then Florida’s offenses have been an eyesore and a primary reason the Gators have produced double-digit victory seasons just four times since 2009.
Faulkner doesn’t promise Week 1 offensive fireworks against FAU, but the 44-year-old Georgia native is aware style points matter at Florida.
“I have high expectations, too,” he said.
But Florida’s first team will feature five returners from 2025 and six transfers, along with several more in key reserve roles. All have had to learn Faulkner’s complex system, featuring myriad pre-snap shifts and motions.
“We haven’t played a lot of ball together,” he said. “We’re still a work in progress. They take hard coaching, they want to be coached, so we’re pushing them through all the things that it takes to get the program where you want it to be.”
To resurrect the Gators, the defensive-minded Sumrall targeted Faulkner to oversee the offense.
Former coach Billy Napier’s insistence on engineering Florida’s attack and call plays proved his undoing. The 2025 Gators averaged an SEC-low 21.6 points, ranked 11th in 2024 and ninth in 2023 and 2022, when the league had 14 teams before the arrival of Texas and Oklahoma.
Georgia Tech averaged 33.1 points last season and 31.1 in 2023 in Faulkner’s first year after the 2022 Yellow Jackets managed just 17.1 points a game.
Brown is eager to see Florida’s attack in action.
“It’s a crazy offense,” Brown said Tuesday. “I’m excited to be in and glad to be a part of it, and can’t wait to see what we do on Saturdays.”
Baugh has marveled at Faulker’s ability to innovate on the fly.
“He’s very creative,” Baugh said. “We sit at meetings all the time, and I sit right beside him. You see him drawing up something new every day, and nine times out of 10, we’ll put it in.”
Every day and every team is different to Faulkner.
Philo knew his offense at Georgia Tech. But Faulkner also has tweaked his scheme considerably at Florida to take advantage of the 6-foot, 222-pound Baugh’s tremendous versatility and an array of receivers the Yellow Jackets didn’t have.
Sumrall, like Florida’s players and fans, is eager to see what Faulkner cooks up this season.
“He’s done that I’d hoped he would,” Sumrall said. “He constantly is an evolver. He’s looking at what fits our people and how to maybe tailor the system to the player.”
Up next …
FAU (0-0) at UF (0-0)
When: 7:45 p.m., Saturday
Where:Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville
TV: SEC Network
Favorite: UF by 26.5 points
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos