Report: Georgia Tech Promotes Brent Key to Head Coach

Brent Key will be the next head coach at Georgia Tech

Jackson Caudell | Nov 29, 2022

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After a few days of speculation about who would be the next head coach at Georgia Tech, it turns out it will be the coach that has been leading them for the past couple of months.

According to multiple reports, interim head coach Brent Key is going to be the next head coach at Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech is promoting interim coach Brent Key to permanent head coach, sources tell @SInow. Key, a GT alum with wide support in Atlanta, went 4-4 in the interim this year.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 29, 2022

Sources: Georgia Tech is targeting interim Brent Key to be the next head coach. The details are being worked out, and it should be finalized in the next 24 hours.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 29, 2022

Key, a Tech alum and former All-ACC lineman, took over the program as the interim head coach after former head coach Geoff Collins was fired after a 1-3 start. Key won his first game against a nationally ranked Pitt team on the road and followed it up with a win against a Duke team that finished 8-4.

Georgia Tech interim head coach Brent Key — Brent Key is going to be the next head coach at Georgia Tech / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

There were some tough losses to bad Virginia and Miami teams in between, as well as a blowout loss to Florida State, but Key did lead Georgia Tech to another ranked win over No. 13 North Carolina. This team has played better under Key than it did under Collins and it seemed like the player support was on Key's side as well.

In the report by Pete Thamel of ESPN, he did drop this interesting line about the hiring process that led to Key being the head coach of the Yellow Jackets:

"Tech interviewed 10 to 12 candidates, according to sources, a group that included Tulane coach Willie Fritz. Tech struggled to lure a big outside name because of the school's reluctance to guarantee large portions of the contract, as the amount of guaranteed money was a non-starter for some candidates"

That report does seem to suggest that Key was not the first choice for athletic director J Batt and I think it is fair to say if he had been the administration's first choice, he would have been named the head coach before today.

Key must now focus on keeping this team together and not letting too many players enter the transfer portal. Quarterback Jeff Sims, wide receiver Nate McCollum, kicker Jude Kelley, and wide receiver Ryan King have all entered the portal since the loss to Georgia on Saturday.

It will also be interesting to see if there are any changes made to the coaching staff. The offense struggled all season, but the defense saw improvement under coordinator Andrew Thacker once Collins was fired.

After a dismal stretch under Collins, Key is going to get a chance to be the head coach at his alma mater, something that he said was an incredible experience when asked about it after the loss to Georgia on Saturday:

"I mean... I have gotten a chance to be the head coach at my alma mater for the last eight games. It was very special and it was very special to coach with kids like that. I mean, to do what those kids have done and to play as hard as they played and the clock hit zero today and it is such a credit to the kids and the leadership of that locker room and the leadership throughout the week that they gave to each other. You talk about ownership and really owning this and players have ownership and the responsibility and accountability with it and they bought into it 100%. They bought into every part of it and when you have ownership on your own team as a player, it really is an empowering thing so yeah it has been a real joy and an outstanding time to be able to coach these kids."

Key will have a chance to turn the program around and be the leader for the foreseeable future.

Stay tuned for more about Key being promoted to head coach.

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