Everything From Brent Key Ahead of Virginia Tech

Here is everything that interim head coach Brent Key had to say at his press conference ahead of Virginia Tech

Jackson Caudell | Nov 1, 2022

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Today was when Georgia Tech interim head coach Brent Key spoke to the media ahead of the matchup with Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Key spoke about the game against Florida State, the status of quarterback Jeff Sims, and more today.

Here is everything that Key had to say.

Opening Statement:

"We had a disappointing loss on Saturday that we don't feel like we played as good as we could possibly against a really good football team. We were able to come back in yesterday and really sit down with the team and get the game put behind us and learn from and learn from that game and be able to use it going forward. It is no different than any of the last four weeks. The thing that we really have to focus on is understand that our response to the game, or our response to the past game, is going to be the number on thing that dictates any type of success in the following game. That is really the message that you have to get home to these young men, is that it is about us, it is about what we do this week and continue to go one day at a time and one game at a time."

"The only thing that you can do about the past is learn from it and use it, use it as something to help you in the future. I told them, everyone in the room should be pissed, they are pissed for different reasons. People pissed that you lost the game, people pissed that they did not play in the game, there are people pissed that they played in the game and did not get the result that they wanted. But at the end of the day, you want to be able to walk in that room and want everyone to be pissed and then ok... let's recognize that we have this... these things that we have to get fixed today. It is no different than having a wound or a sore, you have to get it fixed ASAP. On Sunday, get it fixed, get it cleaned and be able to move on to the next opponent because any of those open wounds, things being pissed off, they will carry over, because how we handle the week and how we handle the response to what happened is going to be what affects the outcome of the football game. The thing that we are really focused on from Sunday night until today is attention to detail."

"The little things. Fixing the little things, they add up into being big things. A small thing here, a small thing there, demand that those things are fixed. Demand that those little things get fixed. Understand that it is not about the number of plays that you run or the number of calls or the type of plays. It is about us being able to go out and execute those plays well and that is the focus this week. It is not about the number of things that we have in the gameplan, it is not about the type of things that we have in the gameplan, it is about having things in the gameplan and focusing on the little things that are going to allow us to go out and execute what is in the plan to give ourselves the best opportunity when Saturday comes. That has been the focus of the staff, that has been the focus of the players and that will be the focus moving forward playing on Saturday against Virginia Tech, whose record does not indicate the team that they are and you see a lot of similarities in the two teams."

"You see a team that is atop almost every category in the country in top 40 or top 50 defense in the country. They are fourth in the country in creating what we call havoc plays, negative plays forced by the front. They are a 50% blitz team, a five-man zone pressure, where they are going to take the slant and angle of the defensive line and bring two off the edge to create disruption and that is why they are up in the country in those categories as far as the disruption up front, for creating those negative plays and not just negative plays, but zero to negative yardage plays. Then offensively, they have a new quarterback, a quarterback transfer from Marshall, started the last two years at Marshall and they are trying to play efficient football on offense, they are not really turning the football over on offense so they are doing a good job of those fundamental things. They work and play really good special teams, they have a really good punt coverage unit, their net punts are around 39 yards and I think one and a half yards a punt return on the season and then, we are playing on the road and it is a big challenge for us this week, but as I said to start, we have to focus on ourselves and what we are doing these next four days moving forward to the football game."

1. On the run blocking and how they can be more effective in opening up running lanes...

"There are really two ways to create running lanes. Moving people vertically or you move them horizontally. To move people vertically, it is not always sometimes the best matchup so you know sometimes the horizontal with tempo is the next thing and we had some of those where we installed some tempo last week, some really fast tempo calls and had some success on a couple of those in the game and that is something that we will take a look at moving forward and creating some lanes with some angles on some plays and getting creating with the planning of that but at the same time doing so many things that are new week-to-week, having a flavor of the week, and having something to hang your hat on if it is what fits that defense the best."

"You know we talk about this week is a big zone pressure team and the plan will have to be a little bit different with that so the consistency of those things and then, whether it be the o-line, the tight ends, or the running backs being able to press and hit those things and create those seams, lanes when they occur and when you're not able to just line up and vertically move somebody, teams that are moving and angling off the football. You know, it is going to continue to be work... I won't say week-to-week, but hour-to-hour to get those things done."

2. On if there has been any thought to giving reps to the two true freshmen running backs...

"It is not really giving guys a chance or an opportunity, you have to earn your opportunity, You have to earn your chance to be on the field and that is what players do. That is what Tyler Gibson did. Gibson was brought up three weeks ago or four weeks ago and began to get game prep reps so he has earned an opportunity. The same with Zach Pyron. Pyron was brought up around the same time and continued to learn the game like reps and earn himself an opportunity. It is not give guys opportunity just to do it. It is play the best players and play the best players that will give you the best opportunity to have success in the football game. There is no looking to, we need to get this guy ready for next year. I mean... my gosh, we have a third of the season left to play right now and that is what we are focused on. So, the best guys are that are ready to help us play, will play. You know, Jamie (Felix) played two weeks ago in the game and he has been prepping the same game time as the other two have, you know, brought up three or four weeks ago and been prepping for the games and Jamie's been read to go if he is needed in the game."

3. On things they want to focus on fixing...

"The attention to detail... it is easy to see the things like dropped passes, a missed block, a missed tackle, a wrong route, or penalties. Then you have to go back as a coach and ask, why did that happen? Why did we cut block on something that we have not done at practice, we don't do that at practice and why did the tackle get missed, why did the penalty take place that had not happened? Now you gotta go back and reflect on why this happened. A lot of them, probably about half of those issues are guys trying to do things more than they are supposed to do during a game. Trying to play... it sounds kinda cliche to say... trying to make every play or trying to make a big play on every block or trying to make a big play on every tackle. Those are things that go back to the practice or the game and when you get to the game and the very good opponent that Florida State was, from a coaching and talent standpoint, you have to be confident and comfortable that you don't have to elevate and do anything that you haven't done in practice.

"That was the way it was addressed with the guys when we showed these things on Sunday. You gotta be confident in your practice preparation and there is not one person that can tell you on Friday night or Saturday morning that they are not confident in it. Well then, as that game starts to speed up, the great ones, the great competitors in the arena of sports, the game slows down. We have to continue to work on that and the game does not continue to speed up and a couple of them were a young guy that was getting some reps and really working there way on the field and they have to understand that there is a right and a wrong way to do things and then you do the wrong thing so many times, it is going to cost you your opportunity to play."

4. On updates about Jeff Sims and the other quarterbacks...

"All of them practiced today. Jeff was out there practicing, full go. Every team period, 7-on-7's, good to go. Same with Zach, good to go. We are preparing all of those guys to be able to go and play in the game, really no different than any week and if something is to occur between now and then, one of the two, the other one would have to play. But right now, we are full board with Jeff being the quarterback."

5. On how Sims affects the running game...

"Any time that you have the element of option, whether it is designed quarterback run or the element of option, it takes one person out of the equation. There is one person to read and that is as old school as football is. An option is the great equalizer and the beauty of having... of having Jeff in there is that he is the eliminator of one play, when you run the read option or the types of bluff options that we have in the plan. So you take one guy totally out of the equation, now you start talking about perimeter and whether it is him or the running back affecting the perimeter, you know, sideline to sideline and not playing in the phone booth. Well, now you start doing that and the edge blitzers and those run blitzes start to become wider, well now you have eliminated someone out of the play, the blitzes become wider and more spread out. Well what does that open up inside? Now it opens up the inside run lanes and the holes in there and that is what I was talking about, you either have to move people horizontally or you have to move them vertically off the football. So, creating those lanes and creating those spaces with Jeff is obviously a huge advantage for us."

6. On what Tyler Gibson learned from playing in the game on Saturday...

" I think everyone learns lessons every time they step on the field. I don't want to speak for him. I know there is lessons that he has learned... and lessons makes it sound like I am talking to my daughter... when mistakes are made, learn how to correct those mistakes and learn how to play to your strengths and how to play to your weaknesses, but I don't want to answer that for him as far as things that he may have learned."

7. On how he evaluates where the team is heading into the last third of the season...

"When you are in the season, you are focused on the opponent coming up, that is not really something that ever enters your mind as a coach because as soon as you get off the task at hand, you're going to be scrambled eggs and that is really the only way to stay focused, be able to do the job and stay focused on the day that you are on and the opponent that you have the next week and then once that game is over, you can put it to bed and move on to the next one. There has been bigger picture things that you have to handle and deal with, but for us right now and for the kids out there, our main focus is on game to game, day to day, week to week."

8. On plans for the 10th assistant coach and the poor tackling game against Florida State...

"So we will talk about the tackling first. No, it is not a fluke. There were missed tackles, we are not going to sit here and sugarcoat it and say they are not and listen... I am not telling you guys anything that I don't tell the kids, because if you do try and sugarcoat it, it is not going to get fixed. So we have to be technical, we have to be detailed and show the mistakes that we think have happened in the football game and we did that and face it... Florida State was a good opponent and they had good offensive skill. They have done a good job of recruiting in the last three years and bringing in offensive skill that were some matchup problems. When you go back and look at the tape, there were... there were a lot of one-on-ones in that game. There were not crossing routes where the coverage can convene to it or converge to it and had multiple guys on the ball and in the coverage. They picked out and did some things to get us in some man-to-man situations and they won some of the man-to-man battles. Now, we won some of them too, but here's the thing."

"When they win on of those and win a man-to-man, they get a 20-yard catch. That 20-yard catch can't now go for 78 yards. That is what we addressed to our team. The 20 yard, that is technique. That is man-to-man, how can my technique be better to beat this man, what can I do better to defeat this guy one-on-one? No different than two guys in a boxing ring. But in a boxing ring, there is no 58 yards to run, you got those ropes around it to keep people from running out of it. So that is where your teammates have to converge on the football. We took some bad angles. We took some bad approaches to the ball carrier and some of those we overran a little too overanxious getting to the spot, some of them were the landmark targets of being able to attack the near hip and have that as our landmark and our point of going to tackle. Those were like all things that were addressed, shown, addressed and practiced the crap out of them today and the next day and the next day to eliminate those things."

"As far as the 10th assistant, it is not Vince Lombardi and (Bill) Belicheck is busy this week so JB Hall, who is our special teams analyst, worked with the defense and a special teams analyst, we will elevate him to the 10th coach. He has a very very good feel and understanding of things we are doing on special teams and has done a really good job in these last four games of a little bit of the overhaul of special teams and that allows Jason (Semore) now to spend a little more time, splitting his time between special teams and the defense. So we looked holistically at everything and that is the biggest thing we thought could make an immediate impact, was allow Jason to be able to work with both, but also be in the defensive room, but with JB being elevated, he can now run meetings and meet with players and do things on the field."

9. On the injury to starting cornerback Zamari Walton...

"He had a foot injury, so he missed the second half. He hurt his foot in the game and that was one of the reasons on the pass plays, he had to, he couldn't push off of it, he had to open the gate and allow the guy to get on the outside half of him, but he was back on the field today and rehabbing and getting ready to play on Saturday."

Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech is slated for kickoff at 12:30 on Saturday.

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