This is the first time Buster has spoken since fall camp.
BUSTER FAULKNER
On the offense evolving this season, it has been exciting and some of the things we have done and we are still searching for more consistency but we found our identity and we have a lot of guys coming back and it has been fun coaching this group and that part was consistent. It is a hungry group and through all the ups and downs they stayed even keel. They’ve taken everything they’ve asked me to do.
On Haynes King, he is a throwback and there are not a lot of guys like him. He doesn’t let anything get to him and all the pressure in this day and age, he hasn’t batted an eye. We knew he could run and for him to get through the season, we have to be smart with how we run him, we ran him more down the stretch than we wanted to. We have some good receivers and he got the ball to him. He is a lot of fun to coach and we are lucky to have him and we are lucky to have two of them both him and Zach Pyron.
On his relationship with Haynes, he is a coach’s kid and he was raised the right way in the locker room around a lot of different types of guys. If he wants to coach he will be a good one. He is wired the right way and he is a throwback and you can get on him and he can handle it and the thing I like about it is he isn’t afraid to go back at you. The players and the coaches love him, in a bowl those things start to come together more and families are around and we have a good thing going here and we’ve got to continue i.
On UCF’s defense, overall team speed, they are fast and do a good job of covering and getting after the QB we have to know where #3 and #2 are on defense. They’ve had a couple of opt-outs.
On Jamal Haynes, we brought him in after spring ball and told him hey we are going to RB. The first time I met him before I made the move we brought it up to him, I heard about him growing up and he was a running back as a kid and we wanted to get more explosive and get him and the last day of spring ball he was in there learning plays and he loves football more than anyone I’ve ever been around and his football IQ is off the charts and he has been the spark plug for us and he can be used in multiple ways and he is not a big guy but he plays big. He is intense and we feed off his emotions.
On the offensive line and what it has meant, the biggest thing was Coach Key did a great job recruiting them and they were young in the past, the old tape I watched a little, but our job was to coach them and Coach Wade does an unbelievable job and they bought into it and once they started to believe themselves they took off. They are an extremely confident group and they are still young and they are good. We’ve continued to develop them and they’ve bought it, but the biggest thing is they are playing with confidence which is a big thing.
I think the biggest thing, we want to do what we need to do to keep those guys and you have to recruit the portal and HS but your own roster too. We have a great group of guys and a great group of young guys and we made that clear with them that we wanted to keep them and we’ve made a commitment to them, but everything starts upfront and you have to be able to block, you have to be able to run the ball.
On Dontae, what a great kid and a tough kid who has been through a lot here and he wasn’t playing a lot early and could’ve tucked it, but he kept working. In the UNC game, he had a breakout game and the kid means a lot to this program and he is what this program is about, he wasn’t playing as much as he wanted to early in the season, but he was awesome down the stretch
On his name being floated, it means things are going right, they talk about you when it is going well and when it is going bad. What matters to me the most is Georgia Tech and playing this bowl game and trying to win it and then moving forward. We have a great thing going forward and I’m excited to be here, my kids are happy and my wife is happy.
BUSTER FAULKNER
On the offense evolving this season, it has been exciting and some of the things we have done and we are still searching for more consistency but we found our identity and we have a lot of guys coming back and it has been fun coaching this group and that part was consistent. It is a hungry group and through all the ups and downs they stayed even keel. They’ve taken everything they’ve asked me to do.
On Haynes King, he is a throwback and there are not a lot of guys like him. He doesn’t let anything get to him and all the pressure in this day and age, he hasn’t batted an eye. We knew he could run and for him to get through the season, we have to be smart with how we run him, we ran him more down the stretch than we wanted to. We have some good receivers and he got the ball to him. He is a lot of fun to coach and we are lucky to have him and we are lucky to have two of them both him and Zach Pyron.
On his relationship with Haynes, he is a coach’s kid and he was raised the right way in the locker room around a lot of different types of guys. If he wants to coach he will be a good one. He is wired the right way and he is a throwback and you can get on him and he can handle it and the thing I like about it is he isn’t afraid to go back at you. The players and the coaches love him, in a bowl those things start to come together more and families are around and we have a good thing going here and we’ve got to continue i.
On UCF’s defense, overall team speed, they are fast and do a good job of covering and getting after the QB we have to know where #3 and #2 are on defense. They’ve had a couple of opt-outs.
On Jamal Haynes, we brought him in after spring ball and told him hey we are going to RB. The first time I met him before I made the move we brought it up to him, I heard about him growing up and he was a running back as a kid and we wanted to get more explosive and get him and the last day of spring ball he was in there learning plays and he loves football more than anyone I’ve ever been around and his football IQ is off the charts and he has been the spark plug for us and he can be used in multiple ways and he is not a big guy but he plays big. He is intense and we feed off his emotions.
On the offensive line and what it has meant, the biggest thing was Coach Key did a great job recruiting them and they were young in the past, the old tape I watched a little, but our job was to coach them and Coach Wade does an unbelievable job and they bought into it and once they started to believe themselves they took off. They are an extremely confident group and they are still young and they are good. We’ve continued to develop them and they’ve bought it, but the biggest thing is they are playing with confidence which is a big thing.
I think the biggest thing, we want to do what we need to do to keep those guys and you have to recruit the portal and HS but your own roster too. We have a great group of guys and a great group of young guys and we made that clear with them that we wanted to keep them and we’ve made a commitment to them, but everything starts upfront and you have to be able to block, you have to be able to run the ball.
On Dontae, what a great kid and a tough kid who has been through a lot here and he wasn’t playing a lot early and could’ve tucked it, but he kept working. In the UNC game, he had a breakout game and the kid means a lot to this program and he is what this program is about, he wasn’t playing as much as he wanted to early in the season, but he was awesome down the stretch
On his name being floated, it means things are going right, they talk about you when it is going well and when it is going bad. What matters to me the most is Georgia Tech and playing this bowl game and trying to win it and then moving forward. We have a great thing going forward and I’m excited to be here, my kids are happy and my wife is happy.
