Buster Faulkner looks like the kind of rising offensive mind who will get a head-coaching job soon, and that’s exactly why the Florida State conversation matters. The 45-year-old coordinator is running the best offense in the country, and it’s no surprise his name is already floating around for future openings.
One of those openings could come about 130 miles northwest of Gainesville, where Florida State is expected to fire Mike Norvell eventually. That has already sparked talk about Faulkner taking over in Tallahassee. It would be a big swing for the Seminoles, and it would also yank a top coach away from Florida’s orbit.
But that’s where the fit gets messy. Faulkner should think hard before stepping into that situation.
Florida State still carries the weight of its history. Since Bobby Bowden arrived in 1976, the program has won multiple national titles, produced multiple Heisman Trophy winners and stacked up a 14-year run of top-5 finishes from 1987 to 2000. That’s the standard people still associate with the Seminoles.
The problem is that’s not the program Faulkner would actually inherit.
Right now, Florida State is in a rough place from top to bottom. The athletic director is gone, and Norvell has overseen a decline marked by poor coaching hires, bad recruiting and a general lack of aptitude in all elements of running a football program. Fundraising is down, and the program is trying to stay viable for the next wave of conference realignment.
That isn’t just a harsh opinion from the outside, either. People much closer to the program have been saying the same thing.
A quick turnaround is possible in college football, and Florida is proof of that. Sumrall is changing things quickly, and Florida’s broader athletic picture is in a much better spot.
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. The football program had underachieved, and the new voice has already mattered.
Tallahassee would be a different kind of job entirely. It would be a rebuild from the studs up, and that’s a big ask in the NIL and transfer portal era.
The roster can change fast, but only if the infrastructure is sound. At Florida State, it isn’t.
There’s no clear vision or direction, and the recent history says as much. Willie Taggart was handed a bare room and lasted 21 games before being fired.
Norvell followed and is on track to have his fifth losing season in Tallahassee since taking over in 2020. If the administration could move on from him right now, it would.
Faulkner would probably get patience there, but Florida State has already shown it can be patient to a fault. That has not produced results, and the program still has to deal with a buyout between $40-50 million for Norvell while trying to raise more money from boosters who are tired of pouring in cash and getting little back.
Timing changes everything. Ten years ago, Faulkner probably would have jumped at the chance. Now, with Florida State struggling to adjust to the realities of modern college football, it looks like a brutal first head-coaching landing spot - even for someone with as much upside as Faulkner.
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For an organization that has spent recent years trying to stay in the contender conversation, the next step is no longer just about getting healthy. It is about whether the current structure can steady itself soon enough to prevent a bad start from becoming something far more serious. Gronkowski openly raised the possibility of change on the coaching side, putting Todd Bowles squarely in the middle of a discussion Tampa Bay would prefer to avoid this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Bucs Suddenly Face A Week 4 Concern They Cant Ignore
The Buccaneers are heading into Week 4 with an injury report that already looks like a storyline in itself, and it comes at a time when the margin for error is getting thin. Tampa Bay has several important offensive and defensive pieces either missing or limited in practice, creating some unease around a roster that has been trying to stay steady through the first month.
Chris Godwin Jr. was among the notable absences because of an ankle injury, while Rueben Bain Jr. is still working back from groin and shoulder issues. The bigger concern for Tampa Bay may be the quarterback situation, with the team hoping Baker Mayfield can return soon without needing a trip to injured reserve, a decision point that could shape how the Buccaneers navigate the next stretch. [Read more 🡒]