Georgia Tech's Brent Key comments on possible ACC expansion: "It is an exciting time for the conference"

The ACC is discussing adding Cal, Stanford, and SMU

Jackson Caudell | Aug 29, 2023

Georgia Tech's Brent Key comments on possible ACC expansion: "It is an exciting time for the conference" /

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Georgia Tech is preparing to kick off its 2023 season against Louisville on Friday night and it will be the official start to the Brent Key era for the program. Key took over after a 1-3 start under former head coach Geoff Collins and went 4-4 down the stretch. Being on the sideline as the head coach of his alma mater is not going to be new to him.

What might be new in a short amount of time is the conference his program competes in. The ACC has been discussing the additions of Cal, Stanford, and SMU for the past couple of weeks and yesterday, it seemed as if there was serious momentum to add the three programs.

Key met with the media on Tuesday and one of the questions that he was asked concerned the possibility of the ACC expanding and here is what he had to say:

"I am not going to say that I don't know anything about it because Mike does a good job of updating me because I have been solely focused on the prep for this team and the prep for the Louisville game on Friday.

Look, it is an exciting time for the conference if they are looking to do those things, I have faith in the commissioner, I have faith in the conference, I have been a part of this conference since 1996 and that is why I love this conference. It is such a great mix of academics and athletics and it is an exciting brand of football in the league and if they make the decision to move forward with that, then we would all be behind it and excited for the future."

Georgia Tech interim head coach Brent Key — Brent Key talked about the possibility of the ACC expanding today / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

ACC coaches have not said much over the past few weeks when it comes to conference expansion. Key was asked about conference realignment a month ago:

"To be honest, Mike told me at lunch, seriously. He said you might get a question about conference realignment and I said, what is going on? I had no clue. I was as shocked as anybody when he told me at lunch today. I don't know, ask me on Saturday, I might have time to think about it by then. I have not thought about it one bit. I am worried about Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech, and the ACC and that is really all I care about right now."

Unfortunately, this topic has been the talk of college athletics for the past month instead of the season that is on hand.

Yesterday, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that there was "continued momentum" for the ACC to add Cal, Stanford, and SMU. Thamel went on to say that ACC officials are working on gathering the presidents/chancellors on a call, which is expected to take place at some point this week. There was an expected meeting last night, but it was canceled due to the events at UNC yesterday.

Quick (non) update here on ACC - no current rescheduled presidents call out of respect for what happened at UNC. Jim Phillips is going to Dallas for CFP meetings tomorrow. It is my understanding nobody has flipped yet on adding Cal, Stanford and SMU but talks continue.
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) August 29, 2023

Notre Dame is one of the 15 votes that decide on ACC expansion and athletic director Jack Swarbrick has been pushing hard for the additions of Cal and Stanford:

"You can't have two of the great academic institutions in the world not have a place to play. We're working on (a solution). There is still consideration of the ACC as a home for those schools."

Swarbrick also made broader comments on the state of college athletics and what is happening right now:

"A complete disaster” what’s happened in college athletics. “Everybody in the industry has to take responsibility here I'm not excluding myself from that. I think the decision-making lost its way in terms on the focus of the student athlete & what's primarily best for them.”

If the ACC does expand, it sounds like they have the support of at least one of the coaches in the conference.

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