Thoughts of the Day: July 1, 2026

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

As a third-year sophomore at Valdosta State, Buster Faulkner learned a football version of Charles Darwin’s adapt or die theory of evolution. As a freshman and sophomore, Faulkner was the backup to strong-armed Dusty Bonner, who threw for 107 touchdowns while winning the Harlon Hill Trophy, the Division II version of the Heisman. Bonner was blessed with a pro-style arm capable of making all the throws. While Faulkner had the leadership qualities VSU head coach Chris Hatcher wanted in his quarterback, he didn’t have a Bonner-like arm that could wing it deep down the field.

“Dusty Bonner before me, and he could throw it down the field,” Faulkner, Florida’s offensive coordinator, said at a February press conference. “He was a great player, and then when I became the quarterback, I couldn't throw it down the field, so we threw it sideways a bunch.”

Adapting the offense to the talent on hand, Hatcher took Valdosta to a 14-1 season Faulkner’s first year as the quarterback, the only loss to Brian Kelly-coached Grand Valley State in the Division II national championship game. The horizontal approach resulted in Faulkner throwing for 3,941 yards and 44 touchdowns.

In the coaching career that has followed, Faulkner has mastered the art of adapting the offense to the personnel on hand. While coaching quarterbacks at Georgia for offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Faulkner helped turn former walk-on Stetson Bennett into a capable quarterback who led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships. A fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams, Bennett is the backup for future Hall of Fame QB Matt Stafford.

Faulkner followed the Georgia stint with three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech, where Brent Key likes a smash and go type of offense. Faulker had the right QB for that kind of offense in Texas A&M transfer Haynes King, a run-first type who was an adequate but not great passer. Faulkner easily incorporated King’s running skills into the offense, then spent the next three years honing his passing skills. King threw 16 interceptions in his first year but only eight combined in the next two. King ran for 2,247 yards (5.3 per carry) and 36 touchdowns in his Tech career while throwing for 7,907 yards and 55 touchdowns. King completed 67.3 percent of his passes while averaging 7.9 per pass attempt for his three seasons, 8.2 per attempt as a senior in 2025.

Now that he’s at Florida, Faulkner is charged with turning a sluggish offense prone to turning the ball over into one that is explosive while at the same time cuts down on turnovers. Last season the Gators finished dead last in the SEC in scoring (21.6 per game), 13^th in total offense (341.3 yards per game) and tied for 13^th in turnovers (18). Georgia Tech last year finished fourth in the ACC in scoring (32.5 per game) and second in total offense (460 yards per game). The Yellow Jackets averaged 197.5 yards per game running the ball and 262.5 per game throwing it.

The Gators don’t lack for talent at the skill positions where there is abundant speed and one of the best running backs in the country in Jadan Baugh. There are questions on the offensive line and at quarterback that will have to be resolved. At Georgia Tech, the offense was predicated on getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands and into the hands of skill players quickly, negating the pass rush. To compensate for any perceived weakness in the O-line, he schemed so that opposing linebackers had to hedge out in coverage, creating running lanes. If the safeties tried to creep up to assist in the running game, he threw it over the top.

There is no lack of talent at quarterback but there is a lack of experience. Georgia Tech transfer Aaron Philo has started one game in his career while redshirt freshman Trammel Jones has a grand total of 35 pass attempts to show for last year at UF. Philo is thought to be the better runner of the two while Jones is supposed to be the best passer.

Adapting the scheme to accommodate what Philo and Jones do best will go a long way toward determining how many games the Gators win this year. Philo and Jones don’t necessarily have to be playmakers but will be required to be good game managers. There is more than enough offensive talent. Faulkner just needs Philo and Jones to read the defenses and get the ball to the right people in a timely manner. That is called game management and it doesn’t have to be sexy to be effective.

Good game managers adapt, something Faulkner has been doing all his college football life.

SULLY GETS A BIG BOPPER

Kevin O’Sullivan got the power hitter he was looking for from the junior college ranks Tuesday when he signed Gaston College (NC) All-American first baseman Caden Davidson. As a freshman in the recently concluded season, Davidson hit .500 (93-186) with 18 doubles, two triples, 23 home runs and 110 RBI.

Davidson is the seventh player signed since the transfer portal opened. He fits in at first base where Landon Stripling hit .289 with six home runs and 17 RBI last year.

Incoming (7): 1B Caden Davidson (from Gaston College, NC); RHP Zachary Edwards (from Oregon State); 2B/3B John Martinez (from Florida Atlantic); 2B Kyle McDaniel (from Utah Tech); RHP Maddox McDougal (from Jacksonville State); C John Embury (from Florida Gulf Coast); LHP Trey Morris (from Oregon State)

Outgoing (9): SS/3B Kolt Myers (to Grand Canyon); LHP Cooper Moss (to South Florida);  RHP Cooper Walls (to Georgia); LHP Eli Blair; LHP McCall Biemiller (to North Carolina State); LHP Rivers Kurland; 2B Cade Kurland (to LSU); RHP Blake Brookins; RHP Christian Rodriguez

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: To the best of my knowledge, my grandmother never went to a single Florida football or basketball game, but she was a diehard Gator fan who scoured the Gainesville Sun and Florida Times-Union sports sections and never spared her opinion. There was only so much she could tolerate, particularly when it applied to former Gator football coach Bob Woodruff, so conservative that he would sometimes punt on third down. When it comes to the college sports and its lack of leadership, I can only imagine what she might say, so I offer these two Ivey-isms that I think she might use if the discussion turned that way: (1) “If these people actually had brains they would take them out of their heads and play with them”; and (2) “They need to use their brains for something else besides parting their ears.”

We are indeed in the midst of a leadership crisis at the top, largely because I don’t think they have allowed common sense to venture into the solution equations. So here are a few common sense suggestions that I would offer to college sports leaders who would have to go to the emergency room if struck by an intelligent thought.

1. Make academic progress count in the transfer portal: Only athletes with a 2.5 or better GPA in legitimate courses can transfer without sitting a year.  Any athlete taking remedial course must sit a year.

2. Eliminate spring practice in favor of NFL-like minicamps in the summer: Bodies and minds need R and R after the grind of a college football season. Give players the spring to recharge their bodies and to get their academic house in order. Starting in mid-May allow mini-camps like they have in the NFL leading up to the start of fall practice in August.

3. Give college football autonomy and a commissioner: Since the university presidents are reluctant to secede entire athletic programs from the NCAA, at least make football fully autonomous with its own set of rules. Reduce the rule book down to about 100 pages from the current volumes and give the commissioner power to enforce rules with harsh sanctions. Run football like the big business that it is.

4. Give Group of Six conferences their own national championship: Let’s face it, the Group of Six conferences aren’t going to go through the College Football Playoff unbeaten to emerge as national champion. Instead give the Group of Six their own national championship. People would rather watch that then some silly bowl game played in a half-empty stadium in a garden spot such as Shreveport. Give the Group of Six something to play for rather than a brutal beatdown as a CFP bottom feeder. Playoff games for Group of Six schools would be more appealing for the networks than some of these silly bowl matchups.

5. No more game against D1AA opponents: That would cause economic hardship at schools that rely on paycheck games, but there is a practical solution. Allow an exhibition game pre-season. Isn’t that what a game against a D1AA opponent is anyway? So play it pre-season. Sell out the stadium, give the visiting school a paycheck and play a game that won’t count in the standings or strength of schedule that plays into the College Football Playoff equation.

6. More networks involved: ESPN has a virtual monopoly that needs to be broken with more networks involved in all sports. More networks participating would help eliminate some of these ridiculous starting time that are dictated by ESPN’s limited time slots. More network involvement could also result in smaller conferences getting more money and much needed exposure.

7. Make Notre Dame join a conference: Notre Dame is a member of the ACC in all sports but football and ice hockey. Make the Irish join a league if they are going to participate in the College Football Playoff.