Bio Blast: Buster Faulkner

Another offensive coordinator search is ongoing for Kentucky football. Head coach Mark Stoops will make a fourth play-caller hire in four seasons after Liam Coen went one-and-done in Lexington again and decided to become an NFL offensive coordinator. A lot is on the line for the Wildcats in this late coaching search. A play-caller in the ACC is starting to generate some buzz.

Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner appeared on KSR’s offensive coordinator hot board and The Athletic’s national college football insider Bruce Feldman mentioned that Faulkner could be an “intriguing fit” in Lexington.

Now it’s time to find out some more about the potential offensive coordinator target. Faulkner can bring extensive SEC and college football play-calling experience to Lexington.

Coaching Resume

Buster Faulkner, 42, has been a full-time assistant college football coach since 2007. After throwing for 9,961 yards and 80 touchdowns during his collegiate career at Valdosta State and Texas A&M-Commerce, Faulkner started his coaching career as a student assistant at Valdosta State (2005) and graduate assistant at Georgia (2006) before becoming a full-time assistant.

• Valdosta State quarterbacks coach (2007)
• Valdosta State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2008)
• Central Arkansas quarterbacks coach (2009)
• Murray State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2010)
• Middle Tennessee offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2011-15)
• Arkansas State offensive coordinator/tight ends coach (2016-18)
• Southern Miss offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2019)
• Georgia quality control assistant (2020-22)
• Georgia Tech offensive coordinator/tight ends coach (2023)

Faulkner has banked 10 years of offensive coordinator experience at the FBS level and won three national titles with two occurring at Georgia and one at Valdosta State. The Metro Atlanta native has spent time in Kentucky working with former Kentucky assistant coach Chris Hatcher.

Faulkner was a quarterback at Valdosta State when Will Muschamp (defensive coordinator) and Kirby Smart (graduate assistant) were both on staff. The Georgia Tech offensive coordinator was a graduate assistant at Georgia when Mike Bobo (quarterbacks coach) was on staff for Mark Richt. That ultimately led to a three-year stint on Smart’s staff at Georgia.

Track record of production

Buster Faulkner has been an offensive coordinator in the FBS for a decade. The Peach State native was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2011 at Middle Tennessee at age 30. That led Faulkner to a long career in the Group of Five. However, that production followed him to the power conference level when he called plays for Georgia Tech.

Five of Faulkner’s offenses have averaged at least 30 points per game. Brent Stockstill (2015), Justice Hansen (2017, 2018), and Jack Abraham (2019) have all thrown for over 3,000 yards. The play-caller has shown a willingness to run the quarterback with Hansen (twice) and Haynes King (2023) each running for over 400 yards. NFL Draft picks Richie James (2015) and Quez Watkins (2019) each went over 1,100 receiving yards.

When allowed to call plays in a power conference following a three-year stint at Georgia, Faulkner had his best season as a play-caller. The Yellow Jackets produced a 1,000-yard rusher, rushed for 203.8 yards per game, finished No. 27 in yards per play and No. 46 in points per drive. King was a first-year starter at quarterback and accumulated 37 total touchdowns. True freshman Eric Singleton Jr. led the team in receptions (48), receiving yards (714), and receiving touchdowns (six). Redshirt sophomore tailback Jamal Haynes rushed for 1,059 yards.

There is a track record, and Faulkner showed improvement in 2023.

Georgia pipeline

No one is Georgia. Kirby Smart might have the best program in college football. However, Kentucky has been comped as somewhat of a mini-Georgia due to its style of play and overall philosophy. Mark Stoops and Kirby Smart have both publicly expressed appreciation for how each program runs.

This offseason, we’ve seen Kentucky lean into that Georgia comp by adding transfers Brock Vandagriff and Jamon Dumas-Johnson. Buster Faulkner was in Athens with those players when the Bulldogs won consecutive national titles in 2021 and 2022.

Stetson Bennett credited Faulkner for his rise to stardom as UGA’s quarterback.

“He’s been extremely important. He’s the one that runs us through drills and just talks ball,” Bennett said. “I think probably the main thing that he’s helped at is on the sidelines. He is the mediator between me and Monk [offensive coordinator Todd Monken]. Me and Monk don’t really talk during the games, which I think is probably a good thing because we’re both so passionate.”

“Buster listens to what Monk says and filters it out,” he continued. “Obviously he doesn’t tell me everything. People say stuff in the heat of the moment, and I don’t need to hear all of that it. Just because it’s the nature of the job. He doesn’t need to hear everything I have to say. It’s just not important. Buster keeps me sane, keeps me in the moment, helps me out with what he might be seeing here on this play. His presence is comforting and he’s a damn good football coach.”

Faulkner worked the sidelines while Monken — now the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator — called plays from the box. There is a working relationship with Brock Vandagriff. If the now Kentucky quarterback has a similar feeling to Bennett regarding Vandagriff it could make a return to the SEC make some sense for Faulkner.

No-huddle approach

Buster Faulkner played in an Air Raid offense in college. The Georgia Tech offensive coordinator got his coaching start working for Air Raid disciple Chris Hatcher. At Middle Tennessee, Rick Stockstill often stayed in a spread system. Blake Anderson worked for Larry Fedora at Southern Miss and North Carolina and was also a member of the spread no-huddle family.

At Georgia, Faulkner gained some experience working in more of a pro-style approach under Todd Monken. However, the now Baltimore Ravens play-caller did have history in college with some more spread attacks while working for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State and with Chip Lindsey at Southern Miss.

At Georgia Tech, we saw a blend from Faulkner’s new offense.

The Yellow Jackets were a no huddle operation that more than dabbled with spread formations but was not afraid to get into heavier sets. Georgia Tech utilized a tight end and would sprinkle in tempo.

However, this was mostly a check-with-me operation with Faulkner calling plays from the box. The play-caller utilized both a zone and gap scheme run game, relied on motions, and constantly gave his young quarterbacks easy throws in quick game and out of the spread alignments. That ultimately led to a big year.

Similar to the offenses utilized by Kentucky under Eddie Gran, Faulkner’s latest offense did not huddle but was not necessarily playing with tempo. Due to the operation, Georgia Tech could take its time or get plays in quickly when required.

Financial sense

Kentucky paid Liam Coen $1.7 million in 2023. The Wildcats were scheduled to pay its offensive coordinator $1.8 million in 2024 and $1.9 million in 2025. Those figures are now off the books with Coen’s departure. The Wildcats have some coaching salary cap space.

If a move were made on Faulkner, Kentucky could require Georgia Tech to be a huge financial commitment.

The offensive coordinator is entering the final season of a two-year deal with the Yellow Jackets and is making $750,000. Rich Scangarello came in at $900,000 in his only year at Kentucky. The Wildcats have the funds available and could give Faulkner a hefty raise and a chance to return to the SEC.