May 4, 2024
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Tech's string of four consecutive losing seasons may have made Brent Key's 4-4 record after taking over for Geoff Collins last season look promising to some observers.
Key wasn't impressed. The former Georgia Tech lineman and offensive assistant who took over as interim coach before landing the full-time job wants to make it clear he's aiming higher than .500. Key, entering his first full season as the Yellow Jackets' coach, wants Georgia Tech to be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2018.
Georgia Tech's encouraging finish under Key included road wins over two Top 25 teams, Pittsburgh and North Carolina.
“I was extremely proud of those guys for some of the things they overcame, the way they worked,” Key said. “But there’s not ... one guy on our team that tells you that 4-4 is acceptable. Let’s be real. We finished 4-4. That’s .500. That doesn’t get you anything in this game nowadays. It really doesn’t.”
Georgia Tech, 1-3 when Collins was fired, finished 5-7 overall.
Following the transfer of Jeff Sims to Nebraska, Key opened preseason practice with a three-way battle for the starting job at quarterback between Zach Pyron, Zach Gibson and Texas A&M transfer Haynes King.
Sims and Pyron suffered season-ending injuries last year. Gibson said he keeps hearing he may be the longshot even though he led the Yellow Jackets to a 21-17 win at North Carolina in November. He said even his father “sends me something like every two days” with that message.
“It’s definitely driven me to work really hard,” Gibson said.
Jamal Haynes impressed Georgia Tech coaches by the way he ran with the ball on sweeps while playing wide receiver in spring practice. Since Haynes (5-9, 180) played running back at Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia, the sophomore was moved to the backfield.
Key is happy with the move.
“I like Jamal,” Key said. “He’s a great personality, he’s a fun-loving guy. He’s got ability. Just kind of in the depth at receiver he was a guy who was buried behind some others and he had some talents.”
Key said Haynes “has been one of the real pleasant surprises in preseason camp. ... He is and will continue to elevate himself on the depth chart.”
Key is having Chris Weinke, who returns as quarterbacks coach, serve as co-offensive coordinator with former Georgia quarterback quality control coach Buster Faulkner, who will also coach tight ends.
Faulkner spent three years on Georgia's staff and contributed to the development of quarterback Stetson Bennett, a Heisman Trophy finalist. Faulkner previously spent a combined 10 years as offensive coordinator at Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee and Murray State.
It's tough building a program when your in-state rival, Georgia, is the two-time defending national champion. It's even more difficult when Georgia has dominated the state rivalry.
The Yellow Jackets last beat the Bulldogs in 2016. Georgia is 18-3 in the last 21 meetings. Over the last five games in the rivalry, Georgia has outscored the Yellow Jackets 217-49.
That's why it was notable when Key went out of his way to call out the Bulldogs when he was named the full-time coach on Dec. 5.
“We have an opponent in this state that we will work 365 days a year to defeat, we will work 365 days a year to dominate," Key told boosters, players and reporters.
The Yellow Jackets will open the season in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Louisville on Sept. 1. Clemson, another ACC team, beat Georgia Tech 41-10 in the opener last season at the same venue.
The schedule includes two games against Southeastern Conference teams — at Mississippi on Sept. 16 and at home against Georgia to close the regular season on Nov. 25. Georgia Tech plays at Clemson on Nov. 11.
