The Florida Gators may have found their new starting quarterback for the 2026 college football season in Aaron Philo.
After a hectic beginning to the offseason for the Florida Gators, newly-hired head coach Jon Sumrall is finally beginning to make some noise in the transfer portal this week.
Last month, starting quarterback DJ Lagway announced that he will be entering the transfer portal, leaving the position up for grabs ahead of the 2026 college football season. However, Sumrall and his coaching staff may have found their guy on Monday.
According to On3Sports’ Pete Nakos, former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets backup quarterback Aaron Philo has committed to the Gators.
Philo, before spending the last two seasons with the Yellow Jackets, was a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle. The underrated quarterback put up incredible numbers at Prince Avenue Christian School, throwing for nearly 14,000 yards and 159 touchdowns in his three seasons as a starter.
Despite his strong resume at the high school level, Philo stayed close to home and signed with Georgia Tech out of high school. During his freshman season with the program, he would play in four games for the Yellow Jackets, throwing for 565 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Unfortunately for Philo, the young playmaker saw less time this past season as a sophomore, as almost all of his stats came against the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs in Week 12. During that matchup, Philo dominated, racking up 373 passing yards and one touchdown.
One of the main reasons why the Georgia native was unable to crack the field over the last two seasons was due to the team’s starting quarterback, Haynes Kig. The former Texas A&M Aggie threw for 5,065 yards and 28 touchdowns in his last two years with the Yellow Jackets, while also totaling 1,540 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on the ground.
Now, Philo has the opportunity to become the next starting quarterback for the Gators in 2026. However, the job will not be handed to Florida’s newest addition, as he will compete with 2025 four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. this offseason.
Jones showed plenty of promise in his two appearances this season, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns. But Philo will have an advantage over Jones ahead of next year, as the Gators’ new offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, was previously the offensive coordinator for the Yellow Jackets in 2025.