The Florida Gators are entering a new era in their football program after firing Billy Napier this season. Florida opted to hire Tulane's Jon Sumrall to be their next head coach, and it's safe to say that their fans believe he can save their program.
It will be interesting for Georgia to see how he does with the Gators. The Bulldogs have dominated Florida for a decade now, but Sumrall believes that he can come in and change the direction of their program which includes beating Georgia in their annual rivalry matchup.
Accomplishing that will be difficult next season because of how good Georgia will be. But Florida will also have to play without star quarterback DJ Lagway next year who plans to enter the Transfer Portal this offseason.
Lagway's departure means that Florida and Sumrall need to find a new quarterback in the portal, and it appears they have found the guy they want who just so happens to be from the state of Georgia. That player is Aaron Philo who out of high school was never offered by the Bulldogs, and there’s a chance he resents the program because of that.
After losing DJ Lagway, Florida is trying to make a play for Georgia Tech's 2026 projected starter, Aaron Philo. Here is the latest on that situation.https://t.co/ogAVxzChTJ pic.twitter.com/ROqHzo4Zli
— Kelly Quinlan (@Kelly_Quinlan) December 15, 2025
Florida is looking to steal a QB from the Peach State
Philo is the backup quarterback at Georgia Tech who Florida desperately wants to poach. This may seem like a radon QB to target, but Florida’s new Offensive Coordinator just held the same position at Tech, so he is very familiar with Philo.
Philo has spent two seasons with Georgia Tech where he has tallied 938 passing yards and two touchdowns. He is yet to earn a starting role in his career so it is hard to judge him, but if Florida wants him this bad then he must be pretty good.
Philo was a three-star recruit out of high school who was from the state of Georgia. The Bulldogs however never even offered him a scholarship, so there may be some bad blood there. If that is the case and he does transfer to Florida then that could make for some very interesting matchups while he is the starting quarterback for the Gators.