Jon Sumrall and many fans of the Florida Gators know that Buster Faulkner isn't going to be around Gainesville forever. The 45-year-old offensive coordinator is pulling the strings for the best offense in the country, and it's not a surprise that there are already rumors about where Faulkner lands for his first head coaching job.
One of the jobs that will likely be open in a few weeks is about 130 miles north-west of Gainesville, where Florida State is expected to fire Mike Norvell eventually. Many fans have already talked about Faulkner taking over the Seminoles program. And not only would he be an upgrade for that program, but it has a ripple effect by pulling a top coach away from the Gators.
It would be another twist to he Sunshine State showdown, but it's one that Faulkner should think long and hard about before making a move to Tallahassee.
Florida better make Buster Faulkner off-limits to interviews the rest of the season.
— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) September 30, 2026
This is the exact demeanor P4s with HC vacancies this cycle will be looking for … he’s a ball coach. pic.twitter.com/ItA7DoZ5jH
Buster Faulkner has to think twice before making his next move
Faulkner is likely going to be a head coach in college football as soon as the 2027 season. Florida isn't going to stand in his way, and it won't match the $7–8 million he's likely to get in his first contract. Sumrall empowers his coaching staff and would be in full support of Faulkner taking the logical next step in his career, wherever that is.
And the rival silliness aside, Florida State has been a great program in college football since Bobby Bowden arrived in 1976. The Seminoles have won multiple national titles and had multiple Heisman Trophy winners and the 14-year streak of top-5 finishes from 1987 to 2000 remains a standard of consistency in the sport.
But that's not the FSU program that Faulkner would be walking in. No one knows what is next for FSU football. The Seminoles have fired their athletic director and allowed Mike Norvell to destroy the program with poor coaching hires, bad recruiting and a general lack of aptitude in all elements of running a football program.
The fundraising is down and the program is fighting to remain a viable property for the next wave of conference realignment. There's no leadership around FSU football right now and that's not me saying that. People far closer to that program than I could ever be are saying the same things regularly.
A quick turnaround can be done. Sumrall is making it happen quickly at Florida. But Gators athletics is in a good place. The men's basketball team won a national championship in 2024 and Gators baseball was a runner-up in 2023 and a CWS semifinalist in 2024. There was no reason for the football program to have underachieved like it did and Sumrall is proving that a new voice was a big part of the fix.
However, it's a full-fledged rebuild in Tallahassee. Everything has to be ripped down to the studs and put back together again. Does Faulkner want to deal with that? In the NIL/transfer portal world of college sports, the roster rebuild can happen quickly, but that's if the infrastructure is sound. It's not sound at FSU.
There's no vision or direction for anything. Willie Taggart walked into a bare room and the FSU brass gave him 21 games to fix it before firing him, and then they hired Norvell, who is on track to have his fifth losing season in Tallahassee since taking the job in 2020. And if the administration could fire Norvell right now, they would.
I do think FSU would be patient with Faulkner, but they have been far too patient with Norvell, and it's gotten them nowhere because the leadership isn't there for success. They are also on the hook for a buyout between $40–50 million for Norvell and will have to raise funds for that too . . .from an angry group of boosters that are tired of investing hard-earned money and getting so little in return.
Timing is everything and if it was 10 years ago, Faulkner would take the FSU job without a second thought. But now we've seen how much that program is struggling to adjust to what's happening in college football, and it would be a tough road for the most experienced of program builders. It's certainly not a place for a first-time head coach that has so much to offer like Faulkner.
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