Gator fans exhale as Florida finally brings in Buster Faulkner to run the offense

When it was announced that Buster Faulkner was Jon Sumrall’s pick to be the offensive coordinator for the Gators, there was a sense of hope from Florida fans that Sumrall might just work out after all. But then time marched on, and there was no official announcement from Florida itself that Faulkner had been hired, leading to rumors and innuendo that Faulkner might never make it to Gainesville.

But alas, after a brief delay, Florida has officially announced that Buster Faulkner will be the offensive coordinator for the 2026 season.

Buster Faulkner hired as offensive coordinator at Florida

Part of the rumor was that Faulkner was going to take the job as Southern Mississippi’s head coach rather than come to Gainesville. Faulkner had been the OC there in 2019, right before he was hired as the QB coach at Georgia, and some Southern Mississippi insiders had been hinting Faulkner was in talks with the university.

But a post from Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille showed Faulkner having a meal with other potential members of Florida’s new coaching staff, and it seemed to quell any fear that Faulkner wasn’t going to coach at Florida.

Faulkner is coming off being named Offensive Coordinator of the Year, and he transformed Georgia Tech into one of the more potent offenses in the country. This past season, the Yellow Jackets were 12th in the country in yards per game and were 7th in yards per play. Georgia Tech also turned the ball over just 13 times, which was 36th best in the country.

The biggest thing about Faulkner’s hiring is that it proves Sumrall isn’t just bringing over all of his buddies from Tulane. For the past four seasons, Sumrall has had Joe Craddock as his offensive coordinator, but Tulane’s offense is just 58th in points per game this season, and Craddock’s offenses haven’t been anything special in three of his four seasons working with Sumrall.

The other notable difference between Sumrall and the Billy Napier Era is that he is going to hit the ground running with proven Power Four coordinators. On defense, Sumrall hired Brad White, who spent seven years as Kentucky’s defensive coordinator.