When Stacy Searels was hired as Georgia’s offensive line coach in February, he had a whole new playbook to learn. He leaned on quality-control assistant Buster Faulkner for help.
“Buster’s a very smart coach,” Searels told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “He’s a hard worker. He’s a good, I guess you’d say, teammate in the room. He really helped me with a lot of the terminology and helped me mesh into the staff here.”
Searels spoke of Faulkner at the Bulldogs’ media-day appearance ahead of their game against Ohio State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Faulkner’s time with the Bulldogs is short, as he has been hired to be Georgia Tech’s new offensive coordinator for new coach Brent Key. News of the hire broke Dec. 12.
Faulkner spent time recruiting on the road for Tech when off-campus visits were permitted on the NCAA calendar but has since been helping Georgia prepare for its College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the Buckeyes. He will stay with Georgia through its playoff run, an indication of his value to the Bulldogs, even in a background role.
“Buster’s done a great job everywhere he’s been, and he’ll do a good job there,” Searels said. “I can’t be pulling for those (Tech) guys, but I am a Buster Faulkner fan. He’s a good coach and a good man.”
Faulkner has been on coach Kirby Smart’s staff in a quality-control role for the past three seasons. Among his roles are helping prepare the game plan and serving as an adviser to offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
“He’s been awesome,” Monken said Thursday. He later used the word “invaluable.”
“We work closely together on a lot of game planning, and he’s an intelligent coach, got a lot of great ideas,” Searels said.
Particularly as Faulkner has been an offensive coordinator – at Southern Mississippi, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee State, Murray State and Valdosta State for a total of 10-plus seasons – Monken has appreciated Faulkner’s team-first approach to the job over three years, a role that requires a mix of humility and assertiveness.
“That position, to me, takes a special person,” Monken said. “Because they have to have confidence in what they say and tell me, ability to do work that they’re way beyond their pay grade and yet have no ego to be disruptive in where we go as an offense. And he has that. I don’t know how else to say it, but not everybody fits that role.”
Monken recalled a contribution that Faulkner made before the Bulldogs’ Orange Bowl win over Michigan in their CFP semifinal win last season. During the practice week, Monken was contemplating removing a pass play to tight end Brock Bowers that lined him up against a Michigan linebacker, thinking there was too much in the game plan.
“(Faulkner) goes, ‘Nah, that’s probably my favorite concept,’” Monken said.
Monken decided to heed Faulkner’s feedback and then called the play on the third play of the game’s opening drive. Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett hit Bowers for a 35-yard gain, setting up a touchdown.
Another contribution has been to be a buffer between Monken and Georgia’s quarterbacks, principally Bennett.
“That’s why coach Monken says that he’s in the (upstairs coaching) box because he gets fired up on game days, and he gets fired up during practice,” quarterback Brock Vandagriff said. “Coach Faulkner is kind of there to just be the intermediator between us.”
From a recruiting standpoint, Faulkner would not add great value to the Tech staff were he to join now. The NCAA recruiting calendar has been in what is called a “dead period” since Dec. 19 and through Jan. 12, meaning it is impermissible to make in-person contacts either on or off campus. (Players who are transferring midyear are excluded from the dead period and can make campus visits Jan. 4-8.) The longest that Faulkner can be with Georgia is through the CFP Championship game Jan. 9. After that, he’ll be fully in the employ of Tech.
“I’m proud of coach Faulkner,” Vandagriff said. “I love him as a guy, and I think he’ll do great things.”
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