Key offered a pretty good summary of Bowling Green and how his team is similar to them. Basically, they gave hope to a hopeless team and then it spiraled on them.
"The game last Saturday obviously was a poor performance all around for our football team and one that no one is proud of, you know embarrassed of the performance on the field and when you come off the field you got to address things and move forward with them and make the necessary adjustments and changes mean throughout the whole program. I told the team last week that we were playing a fragile football team last week and that's the most dangerous type of team to play and you have a fragile team. One thing can break it, one thing can pull it together and all sudden, you know, one breath of hope and one good thing leads to another and then leads to another."
He told the team now they are the fragile ones and the role is reversed this week with Miami. He wants his teams to be the opposite of fragile, tough. He wants to see mental toughness this week and kids having the right mindset and for the players to rebound from this embarrassment and play the way they are supposed to play.
Key said the Bowling Green game can define the season in two different ways, will it affect them and make the rest of the season good or bad. He said it affected the staff and at practice today he saw he saw how it affected the players.
Key said that he evaluates every part of the program every week including the staff and it was not a sudden knee-jerk reaction to move Kevin Sherrer to DC and demote Thacker to safeties coach.
Key said that Travares Tillman is still the overall DB coach and Thacker will assist him with that and be in the box while Sherrer will move down to the field.
Key said that Thacker has taken the demotion as best he can and he has a solid working relationship with Sherrer and "Andrew is the best supporting person that he can be and he will be that." The decision to keep him at GT was based on how the D performed last year and they are constantly evaluating things and they needed to make a change.
Key said the decision to remove Thacker as DC was not an emotional one. He said he does not make emotional decisions during or immediately after a football game. He wants to go home and think about it and the various scenarios in his head.
Key said the WF game was about sacks and interceptions but they still had a lot of the same issues that plagued the defense in the BG game, they just didn't get any of those plays on Saturday.
He told the staff and then 30 minutes later he informed the team alone just Key and the players. He told the players exactly why the move was made and what the expectations are moving forward. He wanted to make sure it was very clear to them and no other voices were saying this is why or whatnot.
When asked about Ricky Brumfield who had been helping coaching the nickels and safeties during indy periods, Key said that Ricky is in all the defensive and offensive meetings and his primary role is special teams but he helps in other areas as he can.
Key said the team has to learn how to start and finish with the same intensity for 4 quarters. He said they started the Bowling Green game great, but couldn't sustain it and he wants to see just as good a second half as the first and they need to make the proper adjustments at halftime as a staff to put the players in the best position to succeed and play a full four quarters.
Ken tried a little bait on Key asking him how it reflects on him firing Thacker after five games when he retained him. Key said, he is the head coach and he has thick skin. He could careless about what people outside thing. What matters to him are those players and Georgia Tech and that is what he bases all his decisions on, what is best for the players and GT. It is not about his feelings or pride. That is why he is off social media.
I asked him what his expectations are for Sherrer and what can he change in a normal week of practice heading into Miami. Key said Sherrer will be on the field calling the game and Thack in the box and his job is to put the players in the best position to execute on defense and to teach them to do the right things and have them prepared so they have a high confidence in the game plan.
Key said the defensive issues are not scheme-based. If guys are not in the position to make plays then that is a scheme. Their not making the plays is the bigger issue. He said there are 100s of schemes they could run, but it is more about alignments, base knowledge and calls and there will be some adjustments to Sherrer's personality but at the end of the day, defense is defense and everything comes back to Key and it is his responsibility. If he thought there were scheme issues it would be different, but at the end of the day the DC's job is to put the players in a position to make plays on Saturday and they'll look more at other stuff during the bye week as far as adjustments Sherrer might want to make.
Key said that Jamal Haynes was not only a full go but he is begging to be put on more special teams than he already is on. He actually pulled someone off another unit to allow Haynes to get some more special teams reps today so he is not injured.
Key said Jordan Williams is still week-to-week.
Key said that Chase Lane is back practicing, but they are being careful with him because they do not want to lose him for the rest of the year so when he is fully healthy they will put him back in the lineup, but he is hopeful that could be this week.
Key was asked about his past success against ranked teams on the road going into the Miami game, he said there isn't much of a positive from week to week even let alone what happened last year. They need to focus on themselves and fixing what is broken.
The TV team this week is Wes Durham (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Taylor Tannebaum (sideline)
"The game last Saturday obviously was a poor performance all around for our football team and one that no one is proud of, you know embarrassed of the performance on the field and when you come off the field you got to address things and move forward with them and make the necessary adjustments and changes mean throughout the whole program. I told the team last week that we were playing a fragile football team last week and that's the most dangerous type of team to play and you have a fragile team. One thing can break it, one thing can pull it together and all sudden, you know, one breath of hope and one good thing leads to another and then leads to another."
He told the team now they are the fragile ones and the role is reversed this week with Miami. He wants his teams to be the opposite of fragile, tough. He wants to see mental toughness this week and kids having the right mindset and for the players to rebound from this embarrassment and play the way they are supposed to play.
Key said the Bowling Green game can define the season in two different ways, will it affect them and make the rest of the season good or bad. He said it affected the staff and at practice today he saw he saw how it affected the players.
Key said that he evaluates every part of the program every week including the staff and it was not a sudden knee-jerk reaction to move Kevin Sherrer to DC and demote Thacker to safeties coach.
Key said that Travares Tillman is still the overall DB coach and Thacker will assist him with that and be in the box while Sherrer will move down to the field.
Key said that Thacker has taken the demotion as best he can and he has a solid working relationship with Sherrer and "Andrew is the best supporting person that he can be and he will be that." The decision to keep him at GT was based on how the D performed last year and they are constantly evaluating things and they needed to make a change.
Key said the decision to remove Thacker as DC was not an emotional one. He said he does not make emotional decisions during or immediately after a football game. He wants to go home and think about it and the various scenarios in his head.
Key said the WF game was about sacks and interceptions but they still had a lot of the same issues that plagued the defense in the BG game, they just didn't get any of those plays on Saturday.
He told the staff and then 30 minutes later he informed the team alone just Key and the players. He told the players exactly why the move was made and what the expectations are moving forward. He wanted to make sure it was very clear to them and no other voices were saying this is why or whatnot.
When asked about Ricky Brumfield who had been helping coaching the nickels and safeties during indy periods, Key said that Ricky is in all the defensive and offensive meetings and his primary role is special teams but he helps in other areas as he can.
Key said the team has to learn how to start and finish with the same intensity for 4 quarters. He said they started the Bowling Green game great, but couldn't sustain it and he wants to see just as good a second half as the first and they need to make the proper adjustments at halftime as a staff to put the players in the best position to succeed and play a full four quarters.
Ken tried a little bait on Key asking him how it reflects on him firing Thacker after five games when he retained him. Key said, he is the head coach and he has thick skin. He could careless about what people outside thing. What matters to him are those players and Georgia Tech and that is what he bases all his decisions on, what is best for the players and GT. It is not about his feelings or pride. That is why he is off social media.
I asked him what his expectations are for Sherrer and what can he change in a normal week of practice heading into Miami. Key said Sherrer will be on the field calling the game and Thack in the box and his job is to put the players in the best position to execute on defense and to teach them to do the right things and have them prepared so they have a high confidence in the game plan.
Key said the defensive issues are not scheme-based. If guys are not in the position to make plays then that is a scheme. Their not making the plays is the bigger issue. He said there are 100s of schemes they could run, but it is more about alignments, base knowledge and calls and there will be some adjustments to Sherrer's personality but at the end of the day, defense is defense and everything comes back to Key and it is his responsibility. If he thought there were scheme issues it would be different, but at the end of the day the DC's job is to put the players in a position to make plays on Saturday and they'll look more at other stuff during the bye week as far as adjustments Sherrer might want to make.
Key said that Jamal Haynes was not only a full go but he is begging to be put on more special teams than he already is on. He actually pulled someone off another unit to allow Haynes to get some more special teams reps today so he is not injured.
Key said Jordan Williams is still week-to-week.
Key said that Chase Lane is back practicing, but they are being careful with him because they do not want to lose him for the rest of the year so when he is fully healthy they will put him back in the lineup, but he is hopeful that could be this week.
Key was asked about his past success against ranked teams on the road going into the Miami game, he said there isn't much of a positive from week to week even let alone what happened last year. They need to focus on themselves and fixing what is broken.
The TV team this week is Wes Durham (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Taylor Tannebaum (sideline)
