Florida Coach Expected to Get Looks for Head Coaching Opportunity
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It won't be a statement win for North Carolina, but Wisconsin transfer quarterback Billy One of the reasons why Jon Sumrall quickly became a favorite candidate for the Florida Gators last year was because of his vision of building a winner in the SEC.
Sumrall sold Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin on the idea of being able to land elite assistant coaches to help the Gators make a push for the College Football Playoff.
The downside of that vision is that Florida might not have the most stability with its assistant coaches if the program has success, as other schools will want to hire those coaches.
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN named Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner as a likely candidate to become a head coach in the next hiring cycle.
"Faulkner's pro-style hybrid offense is one of the more distinct schemes in college football, and gave opponents fits with quarterback Haynes King at Georgia Tech," Rittenberg wrote.
"He now brings his system to a bigger stage at Florida with new coach Jon Sumrall. Faulkner, 44, has coached extensively in the South and could parlay success at Florida into his first head coaching opportunity."
When speaking to reporters early in camp, Faulkner said he was drawing inspiration from two Florida icons, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier, to build his new offense.
"I’ve always said this: 'He was on the cutting edge of it.' Then Urban Meyer, watching his offenses, they were fun, too," Faulkner said, via USA Today. "They were physical, violent. I think we want to kind of be a combination of both of them. I still think that violence and playing tough and playing physical and old-school football still wins.
"But we do have the skill players to hopefully look like they did in the ’90s with Spurrier. I’d like to see a combination of both. But it’s all about winning and finding a way to score one more point than our opponent. That’s what we’re going to try to do."
If Florida can take a look anywhere near those teams with quarterback Aaron Philo this year, Faulkner will certainly get a look for jobs.
With that being said, he might be wise to stay at Florida for a couple of seasons until the program is ready to make the College Football Playoff. From there, he could do a better job with a Power 4 team.
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