georgia football kirby smart buster faulkner

ATHENS — Georgia is used to coaches having to pull double duty at this point of the year. A coach has accepted a job at one school but still wants to finish things out with the Bulldogs still in championship contention.

Kirby Smart himself did this at Alabama with the 2015 team. Last season saw Dan Lanning bounce between Georgia and Oregon.

To date, only Buster Faulkner has been hired off the Georgia staff. Georgia Tech hired him to be the offensive coordinator, with Brent Key working as the new head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

What makes Faulkner’s situation different from that of Smart or Lanning is that Faulkner is an analyst and not an on-field coach. It’s not as important for him to be at practice, as he’s not allowed to be hands-on in that manner anyway.

That’s partially why Georgia is still figuring out what things will look like with Faulkner with regards to the College Football Playoff game against Ohio State.

“We’re going to determine that probably at a later date,” Smart said. “Still in conversation with Buster and Brent. It’s not something that’s pressing right now because he doesn’t really need to do anything at practice.

“So we’re practicing right now. He’s a supplement to ideas with Coach (Todd) Monken, and he can certainly still do that from the position he’s in, and we’ll determine that at a later date.”

Georgia has plenty of qualified analysts on staff to help the offense, most notably former Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Faulkner has already gone to work recruiting for the Yellow Jackets, with the Georgia Tech offensive coordinator also updating his Twitter avatar.

Georgia beat Georgia Tech 37-14 in 2022 when the two teams met in Athens.

Faulkner arrived at Georgia in January of 2020, shortly after Monken was named the team’s offensive coordinator. While Monken has, rightfully, earned much of the praise for the evolution of the Georgia football offense, don’t overlook the impact Faulker has had on the program.

Specifically, when it comes to the role he played in the continued development of quarterback Stetson Bennett.

“Buster keeps me sane, keeps me in the moment,” Bennett said at this past weekend’s Heisman Trophy ceremony. “Helps me out with what he might be seeing here on this play. His presence is comforting and he’s a damn good football coach.”

Georgia has started practicing for the upcoming College Football Playoff game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Bulldogs will continue to work in Athens until shortly before Christmas, with Georgia then moving to Atlanta on Monday, Dec. 26.

Kirby Smart gives cryptic answer on Buster Faulkner

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