Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Brent Key's Tuesday Media Availability

Brent Key spoke with the media on Tuesday after their win over Miami

Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key during a timeout against the Miami Hurricanes in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

After beating Miami this past Saturday, Georgia Tech is going have this upcoming Saturday off and they will be on the field for their final home game on Thursday, Nov. 21st vs NC State. Today, head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"All right, I appreciate you guys being here, just walking through it. I was able to come over and see Dennis, tell him congratulations for his number on Friday night, man, what a cool accomplishment to see him. And then just, we're in there talking about the past days when he was here and different things and just kept... I remember when Georgia Tech Athletics has been good, it's been good, and really across the board, basketball, football, baseball, and that's what we're all pushing for. And that's what everyone wants, is all of our athletics programs to really be able to reach their maximum potential. So it's good seeing a living legend right there back around. But just got off the practice field today, first time back out, going into what is really a kind of a pseudo bye week with Thursday game next week. So you start doing the math of the, you know, Thursday, Saturday, Wednesdays, Friday, and so on and so forth that gets confusing as crap. So, but today is a Tuesday, but it's really what Sat... Friday, Thursday, you get it, right? But, you know, We're able to get on the field and really completely put everything behind us. Players off day was yesterday, so getting back around them today and be able to put everything behind us and be able to move on, move forward and continue to really know different than one play at a time, one game at a time. And really what's left, their one game seasons is what they are.

So I was proud of the guys' effort on Saturday, proud of their mental, really mental and emotional discipline that they they had throughout the game that allowed them to be able to Have that extra extra bit of energy and edge at the end when it was needed most so You know, there's a lot of good things to talk about it from the game a lot of things we got to get cleaned up and corrected But one thing I do want to point out is two position groups on our team. One is the defensive line where I think statistically if you look at I mean, it was probably made four or five tackles or whatnot, among all of them. But if you look at the linebackers for the first time in a long time, we had 20 plus tackles at the linebacker position, kind of 20 plus at the safety position. That was right up the middle. So what we wanted to-- that was the game plan. That's the way we wanted it to work. That's why we had our fits. So the unselfishness of the D -Line, really from a statistical production standpoint, but allowing others to be able to do their job playing within the scheme, trusting the plan that Tyler had put together and the coaching that Jess had given him, then the strain and the extra effort they had coaching that Jess had given him, then the strain and the extra effort they had really to be able to affect the quarterback and in multiple situations there. And then the other position group are the wide receivers. This might be the most unselfish group of wide receivers Iive ever been around in my lifetime. Not only good players or good kids, We were in a situation on Saturday where they knew they weren't going to get as many catches. And they knew what the game plan was. They bought into the game plan. They believed in the plan. And they blocked their tails off. They ran when they had the ball in their hand, made plays when the opportunity was there. And then to see Eric at the very end of the game really go down and take a knee and do, as we call it, win the surest way. And to do that, and I don't know if there's a lot of guys of his, of Eric Singleton's caliber in this country that would have done what he did there to give it up for the team. So really proud of those guys and in the, not only how they've played, but the unselfishness that they've played with. "

1. On how the team has developed that unselfishness...

"I mean, really, you know, I'd like to say there's a magic formula for it, but really it comes from the locker room. It comes from the trust and the belief in their teammates. I think Trent (McKnight) does a really good job with those guys of managing the room and having those guys manage expectations and understand, you know, that about the game. You know, the quarterback and the way the quarterback It's always the pivotal focal point of an offense and of a football team. Like I said, they're good kids too, but they're all in and it comes from the locker room. When the locker room wants to win, more than they want to have individual statistics and individualized praise and glory and whatnot, that's good."

2. On what the win means for the program...

"-I mean, all wins are good wins. We've said that we know that, but the exposure that the program has been able to receive this year on a few instances with the things these kids have done, it only increases the positive light. People see the program and the most important thing with all that is the recruiting aspect. Being able to have people really on a national and sometimes global market be able to see the program in such a positive light, see the fan support, see the way the fans came out, the students showed out, and the energy that was in the stadium. And then the way our guys play, our guys are, they're a fun group of guys to watch play, they are. And that goes back to how we want to continue to build the program. And obviously it's through recruiting, That's our lifeline, and that's where we've got to continue to build the depth of a program and build quality players in the program that not only are good football players, but are good people."

3. On NC State...

"Yeah, a lot of them they're good football team, you know, they've had some some ups and downs in the season. Dave Doeren is a tremendous football coach. He is someone that I very much respect this league, I respect in the world of college football. He's been good to me as far as becoming a new coach in the league and just kind of, whether it be at different events or different things, show me the ways a little bit. He's just been really good to me in that way. But there's such a mutual respect and respect for how he's built his football program over the last, you know, what is it, 10 years or what not? So many can say, you know, eight win seasons, you know, the development of the players in this program, you know, he truly believes in being a developmental program and in building bringing guys in from the high school ranks and in developing those guys, you know, they play physical and tough at the line of scrimmage, you know, they're gonna be, you know, It's a different defensive front than we've seen as of late. And the quarterback's playing good football, so very similar in a lot of ways, program -wise, identity of a program. So it's gonna be a big challenge for us."

4. On the 10-minutes drive in the game and if that affected Miami's 4th down decision making...

"I have no idea. I'm worried about our team and what and what we have to put, the plan we put together and execute in our plan. And look, what's the surest way to keep a team from scoring? Don't have them on the field. It's pretty simple. So no, I mean, we were able to execute and limit their possessions. And that was part of the game plan. But I'm not a mind reader though."

5. On the culture of the program...

"Well, I mean, I could say the culture, culture, all those things, but I don't know the culture is one of those things you just you don't try to implement you just you do what you know is right. The kids do what they know is right. And eventually, you look back a few few months or years later, so that's a good culture. I mean, you don't know what's happening, you're just doing what you know is right. And that's what the kids are doing. So these kids play hard. They fight. You know, I think there was a pivotal turning point, you know, after the Virginia Tech game when we got back to Atlanta, we called a team meeting. Right when we got off the bus and told the team that, you know, I admired the way they've overcome the adversity that they've been hit with and they have they've been hit in the face with, you know, adversity and, you know, injuries and things, but, you know, no, no one cares about that no one cares because everyone's hurting everyone's banged up everyone has different challenges they have to go through in a season so the standard doesn't change and you know they've bought into that but the thing that we did a good job of was you know we've prepared well every year right but we've talked about you know the execution right and when the when the lights on you you know when you're under the spotlight of not not making it it's and it's not too big. And I think the guys had the right, the mental discipline and the emotional mindset from the start of the game so that when their number was called, it didn't end up being too big for them. So now we've got to really be able to continue to carry that over as the season goes."

6. On how to handle themselves after such a big win...

"We'll get into more of that as we get closer to the game. Today was just getting them back out there and seeing them run around. But one thing I told them today was, I mean, you guys can be remembered two ways. You can remember just leaving a legacy or here, you remember just playing a good game. It's in front of you. It's your choice."

7. On how the logistics of this bye week work...

No, we'll uh, we went out today. We'll go out tomorrow. We'll work out, run on Thursday, practice, practice, you know, Friday, you know, off Saturday, come back on Sunday, and you know, this point of the season, it's about player availability. And we've got to get our reps in. We've got to get our work in. Look, football is not played in underwear. It's played in shoulder pads and helmets. So to think you can go out there and just walk through things without, I mean, you're not really simulating the game, but we do have to be smart in how we get our players back and get them ready to play."

8. On injuries...

"We'll know more really Tuesday, come Friday when we come out, Friday and by next Tuesday I'll be able to give a little better answer, we don't know right now. Yeah, same with all those guys, look, this is the time, the guys know that we have every bye -week this season, the guys that have been banged up, you know, today was a heavy-day developmental. I mean, a lot of the guys, the non -travel guys, developmental guys, freshman, I mean, they went out in pads and got after it pretty good with them and continue to develop those guys. That's what today was for the most part about."

9. On the atmosphere on Saturday and next Thursday being the last home game...

"Yeah, Yeah, I mean, goodness gracious, it's about the last home game of the season. All right, it's a Thursday night. Some of the greatest memories I have are Thursday night games in Atlanta. I mean, just the atmosphere under the lights. It's really where the Thursday night games were really started for the most part back a couple of years ago, many years ago. But for our fans to come out and to see these guys at home for one last time, to know how tremendous they've been to us for these two years, how tremendous they've been this year in their support of this team, to give these seniors one last lasting memory of Bobby Dodd Stadium. You can't meet being more important."

10. On Trey Cooley and Anthony Carrie's performance on Saturday...

"But Anthony with the series before, prior, he had played. You can't have one guy take all of it. And he was one that was in there. And, you know, he can run now. And he's been banged up. He's had a tough go over this season. But, you know, he is an experienced guy who's played football. You know, he was a crazy thing. He was working his way back into the mix last week on scout team. So, made sure he knew exactly the plays and stuff. But he was, he was on scout team last week, helping those guys out as he was working his way back. So when you get down to that, I mean, there's really, there's really no excuses that we got to find a way and find the guys that can get in there and get it done."

11. On Aaron Philo...

"Yeah, yeah. We watched the Michael Jordan, top 10 shots of his career on Friday night before the game. Really, Jordan was-- everybody can argue about the greatest basketball player of all time and all these things, but that wasn't the point of it. The point of it was, with the game on the line, under 60 seconds, last shot, last play, he was one of the greatest to do it in his career field goal percentage with less than a minute to go in a game was still 10 % less than his percentage in his career from the from the field. All right well what does that tell you? Pressure gets to everybody. What else does it tell you? The rest of the league was about 50%. So it's you know the discipline in the mental you know the mindset to shrink that so that it doesn't become bigger. And we talked about that on Friday night. I thought Aaron went out there and in those times did a really good job and has some big third down conversions for us. It's not an easy spot to be in. I mean, not at all. But what those guys were able to do and the way Buster was able to organize that and make it work."

12. On the biggest growth for Aaron Philo since being on campus...

"Yeah, just knowing the offense, being comfortable, game slowing down. I mean, you take that step from high school to college. I mean, everybody's bigger, they're faster, the windows close, fast, you know, close quicker. You know his anticipation of things, you know just overall becoming a more mature young man"

Additional Links:

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