While most of Saturday’s attention went to Jadan Baugh’s 160-yard, three-touchdown performance, Philo’s first snap pointed to a different story: quarterbacks who followed a head coach or offensive coordinator to another school and later started there.
Philo, the former Georgia Tech backup, learned for two years under Buster Faulkner’s offense, so when Faulkner took the offensive coordinator job at Florida, Philo wasn’t far behind, transferring to Florida in January.
Who are those other quarterback and coach duos, and could their success mean a potentially positive outcome for the current Gator starting quarterback?
Aaron Philo and Buster Faulkner could follow trend of past QBs
Just this year alone, numerous quarterbacks hopped teams in hopes of system familiarity, including Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker. Mestemaker led the country in passing yards last season on a North Texas team that went 12-2, led by coach Eric Morris. Once the season was nearing its end, Morris took the head coaching job for Oklahoma State. Mestemaker followed, along with 17 other Mean Green football players.
In their Week 1 debut, Mestemaker threw 2 interceptions in Oklahoma State’s 24-10 loss to Tulsa.
Mestemaker wasn’t the only quarterback to join Morris on a new team; a No. 1 overall draft pick in the NFL had done the same.
Current Titans quarterback Cam Ward, who played under Morris at Incarnate Word, transferred to Washington State once Morris took the job as its offensive coordinator. Ward put up great numbers, recording 48 touchdowns to 16 interceptions in two years, before he transferred to Miami.
Before Lincoln Riley helped Caleb Williams ascend to being a Heisman Trophy winner and first-overall draft pick, Williams was a freshman backup trying to take the starting job from Spencer Rattler at Oklahoma in 2021. Down 28-7, a 66-yard touchdown on fourth down via a quarterback keeper from Williams was the beginning of a Riley and Williams connection that would last for the next two years.
Riley left Oklahoma following the 2021 season and joined USC, and Williams followed suit.
In their first season at USC, they made magic; Williams threw for 42 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions. Williams swept the awards, winning the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award, and then would go on to become a No. 1 overall draft pick.
Which direction will Florida go with Faulkner and Philo?
Faulkner’s offenses have historically put up numbers; last year, Georgia Tech ranked in the top 11 in total offense and the year before at No. 35 out of 134 teams. Haynes King, the last quarterback to play a full season in the Faulkner system, was seventh in rushing yards among all quarterbacks. The Yellow Jackets started strong, winning their first eight games before losing three of their next five, just barely missing the College Football Playoff.
Saturday’s blowout win, along with Philo’s 275 passing yards and three touchdowns, showed Philo’s system familiarity and could be the beginning of another great quarterback-and-coach duo.
The question is how much of that familiarity is going to translate to wins.
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