Buster Faulkner tapped to bring fireworks back to Florida football

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This offseason, more than 30 head coaches changed camps across the college football frontier — but the real impact may come in the assistants that joined their caravan.

From former Florida head coach Will Muschamp’s return to Texas to Bobby Petrino joining Bill Belichick at North Carolina, the theme was big-time programs investing heavily in coordinators who could potentially turn the championship tide in their favor.

Of these moves, Florida perhaps made the most significant with its onboarding of Buster Faulkner. Jon Sumrall poached Faulkner away from Georgia Tech, where the Yellow Jackets finished fifth in yards per play in 2025 — not in the ACC, but in the country. A result that speaks to the offensive strategy Faulkner employs.

Because of that success, The Athletic named Faulkner among the top 25 most fascinating hires in all of college football.

Before Faulkner arrived in 2022, Georgia Tech averaged just 17.1 points per game — ranking near the bottom of FBS production. The 114th-ranked offense was then revamped and took a 14-point per game jump that very next year. The leap landed the Yellow Jackets third in the ACC for total offense at 425 yards per game.

Last season, the Faulkner-led offense was 20th in scoring nationally and 14th in passing efficiency. These are all numbers the Gators would love to replicate in the Sumrall era.

When Florida was lifting banners, the offense was full of firepower, and Sumrall is betting that Faulker can find that spark in Gainesville once again. The work is cut out for Faulkner, with Florida ranking 111th nationally in points per game and 123rd in third-down conversion rate during the 2025 season.

While there is reason to be optimistic, the terrain won’t be kind en route to relevancy for the Gators. Other coordinators mentioned on the list include conference newcomers Jim Knowles in Tennessee — who won a national championship at Ohio State in 2024 — as well as Blake Baker, who remains at LSU with the start of the Lane Kiffin regime.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football: Buster Faulkner among most fascinating hires in 2026

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