‘Old school’ Aaron Philo shows patience, loyalty as backup to Haynes King
Rob Philo put the question to bed: Georgia Tech backup quarterback Aaron Philo, his son, never considered playing for another program in 2025.
“I can tell you the thought never went through his mind to leave. Ever. Was never in his mind,” Rob told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week. “He’s been 100% committed to Tech the whole way because they have been committed to him. And that staff is really what I would call a second father. I have faith in all of that group where they are literally second parents to my son and he knows that, he feels that and we trust them.”
Aaron, one of the best passers in the history of Georgia high school football, could see the field for the first time this season when he and the Yellow Jackets play Gardner-Webb at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The retention of the 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore from Bogart was one of Tech’s biggest offseason recruiting wins.
After playing in four regular season games in 2024, and being a major part of Tech’s memorable wins over North Carolina State and Miami in Atlanta, Aaron could have certainly entertained thoughts of going somewhere else for his second season of college ball. Haynes King, after all, was coming back for a third season as Tech’s starting QB, meaning Aaron would, at best, be the team’s No. 2 quarterback yet again.
“It’s gonna sound crazy, but he’s atypical. He’s old school,” Rob said. “I can say with full transparency that his loyalty to people and love of human beings and love of staff, love of program and that culture supersedes anything else. Someone can throw money at him, or whatever, it’s not going to sway him. He’s very grounded in his character that has him loyal to people, loyal to people that are loyal to him, and loving to people that are loving of him.
“So when you look at this circle of trust, you’ve got coach (Brent) Key, you’ve got coach (Buster) Faulkner, you got coach (Chris) Weinke, you got Haynes King. That circle right there, that is a circle where he’s really gonna have a hard time failing with that group around him. He’s a people person and a human being person and puts that first.”
Aaron made his Tech debut Sept. 14 against Virginia Military Institute and completed three of his five passes for 49 yards. It wasn’t likely he would play again after that, but a shoulder injury to King on Oct. 12 moved Aaron from third on the depth chart to second behind Zach Pyron.
Pyron played the entire Oct. 19 game against Notre Dame and started Oct. 26 at Virginia Tech. But it was on that latter date in Blacksburg, Virginia, that everything changed for the Philos.
As fate would have it, the Philos have close family who happen to be diehard Virginia Tech fans. Rob even attended a fan function inside Lane Stadium the night before the Jackets played the Hokies, and then tailgated with the same VT fans hours before kickoff the next day.
And at halftime of Tech’s eventual 21-6 loss, Rob got a text message from those family members that they happened to have an extra seat in their row. Right on the 50-yard line. Surrounded by Virginia Tech fans.
When Rob moved to that seat, he looked up to see his son warming up and preparing to go into the game.
“I’m the only Tech fan wearing (Aaron’s) jersey. I’m there for two minutes and he’s warming up on the sidelines. I’m texting family members, ‘Oh my gosh they’re gonna put him in.’ We didn’t expect that. It was surreal,” Rob said. “It’s one of those things where you just don’t know when the moment’s gonna come. That was just an amazing experience. Then, obviously, the NC State game and the Miami game. Just unbelievable. It blew us away. It kind of exceeded our expectations for the year, to be honest.”
Aaron threw for 184 yards in the loss to Virginia Tech, then completed his first career touchdown pass two weeks later in the Jackets’ upset of Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium. His performance against NC State in November, when he threw for 265 yards and ran for 57 yards and had the game-winning touchdown run, cemented the notion that Aaron could produce at the college level.
“When the opportunity arose, I really just wanted to take advantage of it,” Aaron said last month during preseason camp. “And then, honestly, it felt really good just because it’s fun to play the game of football. I also feel that it helped me build my confidence and just to get out there and get reps and understand what it’s like being in a game versus practice. I just think it’s great for the experience.”
At Prince Avenue Christian School, Aaron — who was an AJC Super 11 selection — became the state’s all-time passing leader with 13,922 yards. His 159 career touchdown passes are the third-most in a Georgia prep career.
But he wasn’t always a quarterback, having played tight end and defensive back up until the eighth grade. And he wasn’t always headed for Tech, having committed originally to play at Minnesota (much to the dismay of Faulkner, said Rob) in March 2023.
What Aaron has been, however, is patient. His relationship with King, Rob said, is reminiscent of his relationship with Brock Vandagriff, the former Georgia and Kentucky quarterback who started ahead of Aaron at Prince Avenue Christian but would often pick Aaron up at 6 a.m. before a morning workout and to mentor the young QB.
King’s willingness to be a big brother figure to Aaron was as much of a factor for Aaron to remain in white and gold as anything. Now Aaron is the heir apparent to King as King’s career at Tech starts to wane and Aaron’s time to step into spotlight grows nearer.
The Philos will be content with whenever that spotlight turns on for good.
“His expectations for this year is to, No. 1, be ready. Be ready at all times. He’s not the guy. He’s the guy after the guy,” Rob said. “If anything goes wrong with Plan A, he’s Plan B. He knows to be ready at all times, just like last year. The NC State game, imagine that? Or the Miami game. It’s being ready and being ready at all times and you’re on call and your pager’s going off.
“He trusts the staff. He trusts the coaches. He trusts to do the right thing to win games, and he knows there’s a time and a place for everything. He’s very patient about that. Obviously, he’s ready to play now, but we also understand it’s Haynes’ senior year and he’s doing great. They’re gonna win a lot of games and when (Aaron’s) moment comes he’s ready. That’s the mindset.”
About the Author
