After much speculation on who would be masterminding Florida’s offense going forward, UF is expected to hire Georgia Tech’s Buster Faulkner as its new offensive coordinator, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Thamel also reported that Georgia Tech was willing to match Florida's offer for the highly-coveted coordinator, but he chose to accept the Gators' offensive coordinator role.
Filling the offensive coordinator position was a massive priority for the Jon Sumrall and the Gators. Florida's 2025 offense ranked 102nd in the nation and 13th in the Southeastern Conference in total offensive output with 341.3 yards per game.
Faulkner, 44, has been an offensive coordinator at numerous different programs and has also won two national championships as an assistant during his time at Georgia.
He is also a 2025 Broyles Award semifinalist, an award which honors the top assistant coach in college football. He is one of seven offensive coordinators to be a semifinalist for the award.
A college quarterback at Valdosta State and Texas A&M Commerce from 2000-2004, the Georgia native began his coaching career as a student assistant at Valdosta State in 2005 before becoming a graduate assistant with Georgia in 2006.
He then returned to Valdosta State, serving as its quarterback coach in 2007 and its offensive coordinator in 2008. After a brief stint as Central Arkansas quarterbacks coach in 2009 and Murray State offensive coordinator in 2010, Faulkner settled in at Middle Tennessee State.
From 2011-2015, he served as the Blue Raiders’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his five seasons at MTSU, the Blue Raiders averaged more than 31 points a game, and from 2013-15, put up more than 5,000 total yards each season.
He then departed for Arkansas State, serving as its offensive coordinator from 2016-2018. There, his Red Wolves ranked in the top 20 in total offense in 2017 and 2018, both of which led the Sun Belt Conference.
After a one-year stint with Southern Miss in 2019, Faulkner became the quarterbacks coach and a quality control assistant at Georgia from 2020-2022. He oversaw the development of Stetson Bennett and was part of Kirby Smart’s staff that won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.
He was hired by Georgia Tech as offensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 season, and the Yellow Jackets’ offense has thrived under his leadership. In his initial season at Georgia Tech in 2023, the Yellow Jackets led the ACC in rushing and finished 12th nationally with 203.8 rushing yards per game. Then, in 2024, his Yellow Jackets were second in the ACC in rushing offense, averaging 187 yards per game.
However, 2025 has been his most productive offense yet, as Georgia Tech ranks 12th in the nation in total offense with 466.3 yards per game. Furthermore, his quarterback, Haynes King, has been one of the top players in the nation. He has completed just under 72% of his passes for 2,697 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions through the air, while adding 922 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground.
"Buster does an incredible job,” Smart said. “He did here, too. He's a really good football coach. He knows where things are, where all the nuggets are on defenses. He knows how to attack them. He knows the answers for things when you do them. Buster does an awesome job, and that's continued this year.”
As of right now, UF’s quarterback would be DJ Lagway, who had a disappointing sophomore season. The former five-star recruit completed just over 63% of his passes for 2,264 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
In terms of Florida’s skill position players, the Gators will look to retain running back Jadan Baugh, their most effective player in 2025. He ran 220 the ball times for 1,170 yards and eight touchdowns.
Meanwhile, UF’s passing game will likely involve dynamic wide receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, both of whom shined as true freshmen but struggled to stay healthy.
Florida’s biggest area of concern offensively might be on the offensive line. Left tackle Austin Barber and center Jake Slaughter, two of UF’s top players regardless of position in 2025, are out of eligibility and are likely to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is in his sixth semester at The Alligator and now serves as The Alligator's Football Reporter and is a junior sports journalism student. He previously served as The Alligator's Sports Editor, and served as reporter for women's tennis, volleyball and lacrosse. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. He wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Tomas Kopecky).
