Stetson Bennett addresses how important Buster Faulkner has been to his development

Over the last two seasons, Stetson Bennett went from backup quarterback to Heisman Trophy finalist in Todd Monken’s offense at Georgia. But as it turns out, another offensive assistant has played a key role in his success and development.

That’s offensive analyst Buster Faulkner.

Faulkner has been with Georgia since 2020, and he and Bennett built quite a relationship. Not only do they work closely together in practice, but during games, the former Southern Miss offensive coordinator acts serves as a middle-man between Bennett and Monken. That’s helped the two develop a trust, and Bennett discussed their relationship prior to the Heisman ceremony.

“I think he’s been extremely important,” Bennett said of Faulkner. “He’s the one, he runs us through the drills and just talk ball. I think probably the main thing that he’s helped [with] was just on the sideline. He is the mediator between me and Monk.

“Me and Monk don’t really talk during the games, which I think is probably a good thing just because we’re both so … passionate. Buster listens to what Monk says and filters it out. Obviously, he doesn’t tell me everything because people say stuff in the heat of the moment and Monk’s going to say stuff and I don’t need to hear all of that just because he doesn’t need to hear everything I need to say. It’s just not important. He does, Buster keeps me sane, in the moment, helps me out. … His presence is comforting and he’s a damn good football coach.”

Stetson Bennett admits he and Todd Monken butt heads, talks growth of relationship

Stetson Bennett and Georgia Bulldogs offensive coordinator Todd Monken appear to have a solid relationship and are consistently on the same page. But that is only sometimes the case, as Bennett recently revealed. The Bulldogs’ star quarterback admitted that he and Monken butt heads.

But that head-butting has helped in the growth of their relationship.

“We butt heads,” Bennett said. “He benched me, and so that hurt. But now we’re cool. I think we’re better off for that, for sure,. Going through all those ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and I mean, the dude just knows how to prepare and knows how to call plays. I know he said in a lot of his speeches, he’s given the credit to other people, and rightfully so. We’ve got a lot of good coaches who do a lot of good things. But it started changing when he got there.”