Report: Georgia Tech set to hire Georgia analyst Buster Faulkner as offensive coordinator
Georgia Tech is set to hire Georgia analyst Buster Faulkner as its offensive coordinator, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. Faulker has been with the Bulldogs since 2020, spending the past three seasons working closely with the quarterbacks, including recent Heisman finalist Stetson Bennett.
Prior to joining the Georgia staff, Faulkner was an offensive coordinator at Southern Miss and Arkansas State. He is set to work under Brent Key, a Georgia Tech alumnus who was named the Yellow Jackets’ head coach this offseason after serving as the interim coach following the midseason firing of Geoff Collins.
Georgia Tech went 4-4 to finish out the season under Key, and 5-7 overall. The Yellow Jackets have not had a winning season in the past four years.
Faulkner enjoyed an incredible run of success at Georgia for the past three seasons, winning the national championship in 2021 and going undefeated and claiming an SEC Championship this year. He will hope to build the Georgia Tech offense up to find success at his next stop as well.
Stetson Bennett on 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.”
On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.