ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football continued fall camp on Wednesday with a two-plus hour session and after practice, Yellow Jackets offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner spoke to the media for the first time since spring ball.
Faulkner spoke about every position group on offense and shared what he is also looking for from the quarterback competition this fall between Zach Pyron, Haynes King and Zach Gibson as well.
"(Our quarterback) has to be the toughest guy in the building," Faulkner said. "In this day and age of media and everything else, you've got a lot to handle. You've got to be tough and a great leader."
Faulkner and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke are on the same page as far as what they are looking for from that position.
"The beauty of Coach Weinke is we see it the same way. We didn't know each other seven months ago and the first time we talked about quarterbacks it was spot on. So we are aligned as far as that goes. All three guys are getting reps and they are going to get an opportunity to play (in camp) and whoever comes out on top, you guys will either know when we know or maybe just the first play of the first game," Faulkner said. "We are in no hurry to announce it, that's for sure."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faulkner was asked if he feels pressure for the offense to be a lot better, he said his job is to help them win games and for the kids to be successful and he takes that very seriously. He thinks they have a great staff on offense and they are trying to build it up one day at a time. as it is a process.
At RB, Faulkner said they have quite a wide range of guys from super senior Dontae Smith to Jamal Haynes who moved over from receiver after the spring. He said he has used RB by committee or just had two main guys and he had a team at MTSU where they had to move their best receiver to RB and he was a 600/600 guy. Haynes is a guy that gives them an X-factor in that room and they are excited about him. Trey Cooley can really run and Evan Dickens is one of the more impressive freshmen who has ever met with the way he carries himself and goes about his business. He said anyone from a freshman to a senior could play there.
When asked about Cooley in particular he said he has quick and elusive feet and they need to create lanes for him and get him in space. They want to see more of him.
I asked him about figuring out the WR position and the fact they could be more position-less at WR meaning they could line up with three slots and no outside body types or things like that they showed in the spring game and how he fits the new pieces with what they already have. Faulkner said that they added some playmakers this summer with Dominick Blaylock and Chase Lane who transferred in this summer that he is excited about.
Faulkner wants to avoid having just X types play X or certain body types are locked into lining up one way or another. He wants to get the best five on the field so it may be a slot playing X who isn't a prototype X body or whatever. They have a lot of fast guys and can run three vertical with three speed guys and change the game downfield. He wants to use motions and shifts and create mismatches offensively and isn't married to a formation or personnel package. His job is to find the best grouping and put those guys on the field.
He said that Zion Taylor and Eric Singleon Jr. this summer were doing a great job of coming along and that the walk-on Bailey Stockton looked great too, but he broke his finger in the last workout of summer and will be out for a little bit of camp right now. He said they are going to play whoever helps them win if it is freshmen, sophomore, juniors or seniors and the next several weeks will help them sort that out.
At TE, he said that Dylan Leonard has been a great leader since the day he got to GT and he is everything you could wants from a teammate and a player and he does it every day. Luke Benson he didn't know much about him when he got here other than some film he watched and he was pleasantly surprised by him and how he progressed especially after missing spring ball with an injury. Jackson Long is a young guy who is coming along. Brett Seither has some experience and can do certain things and he actually feels really good about the TE group overall.
Faulkner got asked about Todd Monken and UGA again and he said that he is a great offensive mind and a great friend of his and anytime he needs something advice, Monken is a mentor and is there for him. He is able to still lean on him now that he is in the NFL and he has other guys he has worked with and other coaches that share ideas and there is a community of them that work together, but he is building his own offense, the Georgia Tech offense and it won't be the UGA offense or what he did at other stops as an OC.
Faulkner said they didn't do a deep dive on last year's game film offensively, he watched the players to learn about their skillsets and how they did in situations, but we wanted to approach them with a clean slate. He is trying to create depth and versatility everywhere including the OL and they gave those guys a clean slate as well. He has worked with Geep Wade for many years and he knows what he brings to the table and that is why they work well together. He said they are working to find their own offensive identity right now.
He said that at his other stops, he would try to create whatever won games and won them immediately so they don't care about being 60/40 or 40/60 run/pass, what can these kids do well and what gives them the best shot to win now. He said if they are winning a bunch of games then he is doing his job as an OC.
Faulkner said that of the OL, Weston Franklin and Corey Robinson made the biggest "strides" up front. Franklin has shown he is good at snapping the ball and getting the offense going and their big challenge is finding a backup center to create depth at that position and they are trying different guys (Paul Tchio/Brandon Best/Gabe Fortson are my expectations) to create depth behind Franklin. Franklin has taken on a role as a leader as well and they are excited about him.
Faulkner got asked if there is a sense of pride from him and his fellow Georgians on the staff to return GT to relevance in the state and he said he was born and raised here (Parkview HS) and he loves the state and the HS football here and other guys on the staff feel the same way too. Atlanta is the best location in the Southeast to play football and what more could you ask for than what GT has to offer, he is right where he wants to be.
Faulkner spoke about every position group on offense and shared what he is also looking for from the quarterback competition this fall between Zach Pyron, Haynes King and Zach Gibson as well.
"(Our quarterback) has to be the toughest guy in the building," Faulkner said. "In this day and age of media and everything else, you've got a lot to handle. You've got to be tough and a great leader."
Faulkner and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke are on the same page as far as what they are looking for from that position.
"The beauty of Coach Weinke is we see it the same way. We didn't know each other seven months ago and the first time we talked about quarterbacks it was spot on. So we are aligned as far as that goes. All three guys are getting reps and they are going to get an opportunity to play (in camp) and whoever comes out on top, you guys will either know when we know or maybe just the first play of the first game," Faulkner said. "We are in no hurry to announce it, that's for sure."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faulkner was asked if he feels pressure for the offense to be a lot better, he said his job is to help them win games and for the kids to be successful and he takes that very seriously. He thinks they have a great staff on offense and they are trying to build it up one day at a time. as it is a process.
At RB, Faulkner said they have quite a wide range of guys from super senior Dontae Smith to Jamal Haynes who moved over from receiver after the spring. He said he has used RB by committee or just had two main guys and he had a team at MTSU where they had to move their best receiver to RB and he was a 600/600 guy. Haynes is a guy that gives them an X-factor in that room and they are excited about him. Trey Cooley can really run and Evan Dickens is one of the more impressive freshmen who has ever met with the way he carries himself and goes about his business. He said anyone from a freshman to a senior could play there.
When asked about Cooley in particular he said he has quick and elusive feet and they need to create lanes for him and get him in space. They want to see more of him.
I asked him about figuring out the WR position and the fact they could be more position-less at WR meaning they could line up with three slots and no outside body types or things like that they showed in the spring game and how he fits the new pieces with what they already have. Faulkner said that they added some playmakers this summer with Dominick Blaylock and Chase Lane who transferred in this summer that he is excited about.
Faulkner wants to avoid having just X types play X or certain body types are locked into lining up one way or another. He wants to get the best five on the field so it may be a slot playing X who isn't a prototype X body or whatever. They have a lot of fast guys and can run three vertical with three speed guys and change the game downfield. He wants to use motions and shifts and create mismatches offensively and isn't married to a formation or personnel package. His job is to find the best grouping and put those guys on the field.
He said that Zion Taylor and Eric Singleon Jr. this summer were doing a great job of coming along and that the walk-on Bailey Stockton looked great too, but he broke his finger in the last workout of summer and will be out for a little bit of camp right now. He said they are going to play whoever helps them win if it is freshmen, sophomore, juniors or seniors and the next several weeks will help them sort that out.
At TE, he said that Dylan Leonard has been a great leader since the day he got to GT and he is everything you could wants from a teammate and a player and he does it every day. Luke Benson he didn't know much about him when he got here other than some film he watched and he was pleasantly surprised by him and how he progressed especially after missing spring ball with an injury. Jackson Long is a young guy who is coming along. Brett Seither has some experience and can do certain things and he actually feels really good about the TE group overall.
Faulkner got asked about Todd Monken and UGA again and he said that he is a great offensive mind and a great friend of his and anytime he needs something advice, Monken is a mentor and is there for him. He is able to still lean on him now that he is in the NFL and he has other guys he has worked with and other coaches that share ideas and there is a community of them that work together, but he is building his own offense, the Georgia Tech offense and it won't be the UGA offense or what he did at other stops as an OC.
Faulkner said they didn't do a deep dive on last year's game film offensively, he watched the players to learn about their skillsets and how they did in situations, but we wanted to approach them with a clean slate. He is trying to create depth and versatility everywhere including the OL and they gave those guys a clean slate as well. He has worked with Geep Wade for many years and he knows what he brings to the table and that is why they work well together. He said they are working to find their own offensive identity right now.
He said that at his other stops, he would try to create whatever won games and won them immediately so they don't care about being 60/40 or 40/60 run/pass, what can these kids do well and what gives them the best shot to win now. He said if they are winning a bunch of games then he is doing his job as an OC.
Faulkner said that of the OL, Weston Franklin and Corey Robinson made the biggest "strides" up front. Franklin has shown he is good at snapping the ball and getting the offense going and their big challenge is finding a backup center to create depth at that position and they are trying different guys (Paul Tchio/Brandon Best/Gabe Fortson are my expectations) to create depth behind Franklin. Franklin has taken on a role as a leader as well and they are excited about him.
Faulkner got asked if there is a sense of pride from him and his fellow Georgians on the staff to return GT to relevance in the state and he said he was born and raised here (Parkview HS) and he loves the state and the HS football here and other guys on the staff feel the same way too. Atlanta is the best location in the Southeast to play football and what more could you ask for than what GT has to offer, he is right where he wants to be.
