Jon Sumrall wants to let the QB competition play out for as long as it takes

After the first day of spring practice, Jon Sumrall said that the players, not the coaches, were going to determine who would be the starting quarterback for the Gators this season. A couple of days later and Sumrall is doubling down on that statement.

Normally, a new coach would want some stability at the most important position on the field, but the way Sumrall sees it, all the available options are promising, so it's best just to sit back and see who emerges and how each player responds to the challenge.

"I don't decide who our starters are. The players do. Like, I don't make those decisions," Sumrall told JD Pickell of On3/Rivals. "They make the decisions for me by how they practice and how they prepare and how they perform and their consistency."

Sumrall won't put a timetable on quarterback decision

The Gators coach believes that when the starter at quarterback separates himself from the pack, everyone will know it. That's why he isn't putting a deadline on it for the spring or even summer training camp. And the longer the competition goes and the more each player meets the challenges laid forth, the better for everyone involved. 

"I don't think you go, hey, we're going to know by the spring game, or we're going to know by July 1st," Sumrall added. "Like, for me, it's about when you know, you know. And so some of it is a feeling. Some of its instinct."

The main competition appears to be between Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo and Trammel Jones Jr., a redshirt freshman who appeared in two games last season. Freshman Will Griffin is a long shot to win the job in his first spring, but he has plenty of arm talent.

Philo comes into the spring with plenty of fanfare and a relationship with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who coached him at Georgia Tech. That familiarity should help Philo gain an early edge, but Sumrall said that whoever gets on the field this fall will have earned it. 

"I'm going to play whoever earns it at every position, whether it be quarterback, kicker, left tackle, long snapper, does not matter," Sumrall said. "You have to show up at practice, and you get what you earn in this game. All of our positions are open for grabs. Look, I'm fired up Jadan Baugh, [but] he's got to show up to practice tomorrow morning if he wants to be the starting running back here. Nothing's given."