Kirby Smart has added Southern Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Buster Faulkner, UGASports has confirmed through multiple sources.
Faulkner came in over the weekend to meet with Smart and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, those same sources revealed to UGASports on Sunday night
Although it’s unclear exactly what role Faulkner will ultimately fill for the Bulldogs, he would initially be employed as an offensive analyst as there are no open coaching spots on the Georgia staff at the moment.
His official hire was first reported by Dawgs247.
This isn’t the first time Faulkner’s name has been associated with Georgia, having earlier been mentioned for positions in previous years.
A former quarterback at Valdosta State, Faulkner passed for 7,100 yards and 64 touchdowns while registering a 47-6 record.
After spending 2006 at Georgia as a graduate assistant, Faulkner returned to Valdosta State in 2007 and served as the quarterbacks coach for two seasons. In his first season, the Blazers went 13-1 and captured the Division II National Championship.
Faulkner took over as the offensive coordinator for the Blazers in 2008. VSU averaged 380.8 yards a game in advancing to the quarterfinals as quarterback Chris Hart earned Freshman of the Year honors. Hart accounted for over 3,000 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Most recently, Faulkner spent the past season at Southern Miss, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Eagles, following a three-year stint in the same position at Arkansas State. His final season in Jonesboro saw his offense rank No. 17 in total offense (466.2) and No. 21 in passing offense (281.5), while three of his players, including quarterback Justin Hansen, who was the league’s Player of the Year for the second-straight year, make first-team All-Sun Belt.
His first season at A-State saw the Red Wolves bounce back from an 0-4 start to finish with an 8-5 record, a Sun Belt title, and a 31-13 victory over UCF in the Cure Bowl. Under his direction as offensive coordinator, the Red Wolves recorded 4,932 yards total offense that was the sixth most in school history. Faulkner and A-State followed up the 2016 season by making another bowl-game appearance the following year, this time playing in the Camellia Bowl to conclude a 2017 campaign that saw the offense average a school-record 494.8 yards per game that ranked No. 10 in the nation.
A-State had 11 offensive players named All-Sun Belt in 2017, including Offensive Player of the Year Justice Hansen and first-team selection Blake Mack at the tight end position. Faulkner was responsible for coaching the Red Wolves’ all-time leader in both receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, and Mack went on to sign a free agent contract with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
Arkansas State posted over 400 yards total offense in all but two outings in 2017, including a school-record 781 yards in a victory over ULM. The Red Wolves also ranked 13th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 37.8 points per game.
Faulkner also enjoyed tremendous success at Middle Tennessee State, where he spent five years, including the last four full years as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He helped guide the Blue Raiders to 31 victories, numerous school records and a pair of bowl-game appearances from 2012-15.
There, the Blue Raiders amassed more than 5,000 yards of total offense in three consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, while averaging over 31 points a game. Middle Tennessee’s 2015 team amassed 5,946 yards and scored 442 points, both school records, helping the squad finish 6-2 in Conference USA and earn an invitation to the Bahamas Bowl.
Faulkner also led several record-setting individuals in 2015, as freshman quarterback Brent Stockstill led the way by setting new single-season marks for passing yards (4,005), passing yards per game (308.1), completions (327), attempts (490), touchdowns (30), 300-yard games (8) and consecutive 300-yard games (4).
Freshman All-American Richie James caught a school-record 108 passes for 1,346 yards, while wide-out Ed Batties brought down an MT-record 13 receiving touchdowns under Faulkner that season.
Stockstill and James became the first quarterback and receiver pairing in school history to amass 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.
Faulkner is a native of Lilburn and a graduate of Parkview High.
