Analyst Releases ACC Coaching Rankings: Where does Brent Key Land?

Jackson Caudell | Apr 1, 2024

Oct 28, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the field / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Last season when analysts around the country were ranking the head coaches in the conference, you would see Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key ranked near the bottom due to his inexperience as a head coach. Key had a really solid first season as the head coach of his alma mater, going 7-6, and getting Georgia Tech to its first bowl game since 2018, its first bowl win since 2016, and having one of the ACC's best offenses. I also think it is fair to say that Key did not get enough credit nationally for the job that he did last season for a program that had gone through a really rough stretch with Geoff Collins as head coach. 

Going into the 2024 season, where should Key be ranked among the ACC coaches? On3 Sports analyst Jesse Simonton ranked every ACC coach and he still had Key outside of the top ten at No. 11. 

Here is what he had to say about where he ranked Key:

"Key immediately made the Yellow Jackets competitive again in the ACC — a marked improvement from the doldrum days of the Geoff Collins era. The former Bees offensive lineman is 11-10 at his alma mater, going 7-6 in his first full season as the head coach.

Key scored a trio of upsets last season (Miami, North Carolina and UCF), and if he can fix the Bees’ defense with the hire of former Duke DC Tyler Santucci, then Georgia Tech could be really feisty in 2024."

The coaches ranked above Key were Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mike Norvell (Florida State), Jeff Brohm (Louisville), Dave Doeren (NC State), Dave Clawson (Wake Forest), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Bill O'Brien (Boston College), Rhett Lashlee (SMU), Mack Brown (UNC), and Pat Narduzzi (Pitt). 

I don't think it is a bad ranking overall, but I think the two coaches I might disagree with being placed above Key are Lashlee and O'Brien. Lashlee has done a solid job at SMU so far and could surge up this list if the Mustangs keep trending up, but we have not seen him coach at the ACC level this year. O'Brien did an admirable job in a tough situation at Penn State but he has not been a college coach in over a decade. Key has only coached one season, but he has gotten his team to play up to the competition and has pulled off several upsets of ranked teams already. If Santucci proves to be the right hire on defense, Georgia Tech could be a dark horse in the ACC. Their schedule is absolutely brutal, but Key has shown an ability to get the most out of his teams.