Florida State’s coaching search has a lot of moving parts, and Florida Gators offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is one of the more interesting names in the mix.
He’s not the safest choice on the board. He’s also not the most obvious one. But if the Seminoles are looking for an offensive mind who has shown he can build production at different stops, Faulkner has a case.
Florida State is trying to move on after firing Mike Norvell, and the next hire will walk into a job loaded with pressure. The Seminoles went 13-0 in the 2023 regular season and won the ACC championship, then watched the program slide hard. Norvell’s final three seasons ended with a 2-10 record in 2024, a 5-7 mark in 2025 and a 3-5 start in 2026.
That means the next coach isn’t just being asked to call plays or tweak an offense. He has to steady the program, develop players, recruit at a high level and put together a team that can actually line up with the best in the country.
Faulkner’s résumé gives him some real selling points on the offensive side. He has spent more than a decade as an offensive coordinator, and his most recent run came at Georgia Tech from 2023-25. During that stretch, the Yellow Jackets went from 5-7 in 2022 to back-to-back seven-win seasons and then a 9-3 finish in 2025.
The numbers back up the progress. Over Faulkner’s three seasons, Georgia Tech led the ACC in rushing offense at 197.8 yards per game. The Yellow Jackets also finished second in total offense, third in passing efficiency and fifth in scoring offense during that span.
He also has a Georgia connection. Faulkner was part of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship teams in 2021 and 2022, working in an offensive quality-control role. It wasn’t a coordinator job, but it did give him a look inside a championship-level operation.
That kind of background could matter for Florida State, especially if the school wants a coach who can help attract quarterbacks and give the offense a clear identity.
Still, the biggest issue is impossible to ignore: Faulkner has never been a head coach.
That separates him from other names tied to the opening. Florida State isn’t just hunting for someone who can improve the offense. The job demands a program CEO - someone who can manage staff, recruiting, roster building and everything else that comes with one of college football’s biggest jobs.
Manny Diaz and Jake Dickert already have Power Four head coaching experience. Faulkner would be making a much bigger leap.
There’s also the financial side of the equation. Norvell’s exit comes with a massive buyout, and Florida State’s athletic department is dealing with substantial debt. The next coach will need enough support to build a roster and staff in a college football world that keeps getting more expensive.
That makes the first-time head coach route even trickier.
Faulkner is still a fascinating possibility. His offensive track record is strong, and his work at Georgia Tech suggests he can produce without the kind of resources the sport’s biggest powers enjoy. His time at Georgia also shows he’s been around championship-level standards.
But Florida State needs more than a sharp offensive mind right now. It needs someone who can handle the full weight of the job and get the program pointed back in the right direction fast.
So if the Seminoles want to roll the dice on a first-time head coach, Faulkner belongs in the conversation. He just probably shouldn’t be the first name on the list.
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The move comes as Florida State sorts through major changes after firing Mike Norvell, with interim coach Rick Stockstill guiding the team into its next stretch of games. It also comes alongside a new partnership between the university and its NIL arm, Battles End, a sign the Seminoles are trying to tighten the alignment around the program while leaning on familiar faces who still carry weight with the fan base. [Read more 🡒]