THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board of Trustees approved new five-year contracts for director of athletics J Batt and football head coach Brent Key on Friday. The new contracts add two years to both Batt’s and Key’s original agreements, extending them through December 2029.



"J Batt has demonstrated exceptional leadership as Georgia Tech's athletic director, bringing a strategic vision and enthusiasm that have been instrumental in navigating the evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics," said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. "I am delighted that the Georgia Tech Athletics Association Board supports contract extensions for both J and head football coach Brent Key, ensuring that we continue to build on the prestige they have brought to our athletics program."



Batt became Georgia Tech’s 10th full-time athletics director in October 2022. In just 25 months under Batt’s leadership, Tech athletics’ impressive achievements include:

• the highly regarded hires of Georgia Tech alumnus Key as the 21st head coach in Tech football history and former All-American and NBA All-Star Damon Stoudamire as the Yellow Jackets’ 15th men’s basketball head coach;
• a record-breaking $78.2 million in contributions to the Alexander-Tharpe Fund (Georgia Tech athletics’ fundraising arm) during Batt’s first full fiscal year at the helm (FY 2024), shattering the previous single-year record by 43%;
• the launch of Full Steam Ahead, a $500 million fundraising initiative – of which nearly $300 million has already been pledged – to enhance infrastructure across multiple athletics facilities (including a renovation of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field), deliver a best-in-class gameday experience for Yellow Jackets fans and provide the resources needed to navigate the ever-changing landscape of top-level college sports;
• a monumental multi-decade partnership with Hyundai, which provides transformative revenue for Tech athletics;
• historic academic success, with a record 94% NCAA Graduation Success Rate and the highest mean grade point average in Tech athletics history (3.25 – spring 2024).

Georgia Tech has also taken a big step towards re-establishing itself as one of college athletics’ premier programs under Batt, most notably with back-to-back football bowl berths for the first time since 2013-14. Other achievements also include consecutive NCAA semifinals appearances for golf, volleyball aiming for its second-straight NCAA Sweet 16 berth on Friday night at Wisconsin, and notable men’s basketball victories over nationally ranked opponents Duke, North Carolina and Mississippi State.



Prior to his arrival on The Flats in 2022, Batt served for five years as executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at Alabama (2017-22). His administrative experience also includes stints at East Carolina, Maryland, James Madison, William & Mary and his alma mater, North Carolina, where he was also a member of the Tar Heels’ 2001 NCAA champion men’s soccer team and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications and a master’s degree in sport administration.



Batt’s new contract also includes a promotion to vice president of the Institute.



“I couldn’t be more proud or appreciative to serve as the athletics director at Georgia Tech,” Batt said. “I thank President Cabrera and the GTAA Board, not only for their trust and support, but for the incredible alignment that allows us to serve our student-athletes, coaches, alumni, students and fans. With the support of the entire Georgia Tech community, we are well on track to attain our goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of college athletics.”



Key is in his second full season as the head coach at his alma mater. He took over as the program’s 21st head coach on a permanent basis in 2023, after stepping into the role as interim head coach during the 2022 campaign.



The Yellow Jackets are 18-15 in two-plus seasons under Key, including back-to-back winning seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Jackets are an ultra-impressive 6-1 against nationally ranked Atlantic Coast Conference opponents under Key, which includes a pair of top-10 wins this season, highlighted by a 28-23 triumph over No. 4 Miami (Fla.) last month. Key’s 14 victories in his first two full seasons as Tech’s head coach are tied for the third-most in program history, behind only College Football Hall of Famers Paul Johnson (19) and William Alexander (16).



Key has helped return Georgia Tech to the national spotlight, as the Yellow Jackets’ have averaged nearly 3 million television viewers during nationally televised games this season. Additionally, his student-athletes are achieving at a historic level in the classroom, as the football program’s 3.02 team grade point average last semester was an all-time high.



The success on and off the field has helped Key and his staff sign one of the best recruiting classes in Georgia Tech history this week, with the incoming 2025 class ranked in the top-20 nationally and No. 2 in the ACC.



“I’d like to thank the GTAA Board of Trustees, President Cabrera and J Batt for their belief and unrivaled support of our football program,” Key said. “I am so proud and grateful to work with incredible coaches, staff and student-athletes every single day and to represent the Georgia Tech community as its head football coach. Together, we’re building something special and I’m looking forward to continuing to work to return Tech football to where it belongs.”

Talked to sources who THINK it will be GT vs Arkansas in B-ham. Nothing confirmed yet by the ACC.

The only real decision the committee needs to make now is who gets in between SMU and Alabama (and the seeding of all twelve teams of course). To me, that shouldn’t take more than 5 seconds of discussion to conclude SMU deserves to be in. The following quote from David Hale in his morning article on ESPN seems to sum things up nicely.

“On one hand, the committee would have to ignore its own edicts not to punish a team for playing in its conference championship if it were to demote SMU from the ranks of the 12-team playoff.

On the other hand, the committee would have to ignore years of precedent in which it prioritizes teams that are named Alabama.“

Drop questions here

Tight end Kevin Roche and Darien won today to advance to play for a Connecticut state championship this coming weekend. Date, time and opponent TBD.

Login to view embedded media

Jerry Palm CBS- Sun Bowl vs USC! 12/31
Brad Crawford 247- Sun Bowl vs USC 12/31
CFB News- Gator Bowl vs Ole Miss 1/2
Bill Bender Sporting News- Fenway Bowl vs Memphis 12/28
Mark Schlabach ESPN- Pinstripe Bowl vs Minnestoa 12/28
Kyle Bonagura ESPN- Pinstripe Bowl vs Minnesota 12/28
Athlon- Pinstripe Bowl vs Minnesota 12/28

***I've add ESPN

Jeanty is a stud

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but I was under the impression that only one person was allowed to talk to the qb/lb/whoever has the green dot. Pretty sure that was the reason it had to be done with the handheld radio so they could verify who was talking. During the SEC championship, after Beck got hurt they constantly showed him on the sidelines holding the radio saying he was giving encouragement to Stockton and helping him out with reading alignments. Surely he wasnt the only one talking to him. Not Bobo too calling plays? Needs investigating imo. Strip their title and kick them out of playoffs. 😂

ACC is a joke

Login to view embedded media

The regular season ends today with the ACC CG with SMU in it. I realized I really have not paid a lick of attention to any to the three new teams. True, Stanford and Cal haven't done much to warrant attention, but SMU has. And yet I seem to have ignored all three.

Maybe I'm just stuck in my old way of thinking or find it hard to adapt to changes.

Is it just me or have any of you also had difficulty incorporating them into your ACC thinking? Did you follow their football teams? I cannot name a player on any of the three teams.

No message needed!

I think based on the past few weeks GT should be a top 10 team! Gunner Stockton isn’t that dude!

"They don't boo nobodies."

So if someone is running their mouth about you and trying to tear you down, probably means you're doing something right.

Wishing a great weekend to all of JOL and appreciate every one of you even though some people think Kelly and I don't. And always remember, nobody is forcing anyone to subscribe to JOL so if you don't feel like it's worth the money, you're free to cancel and look elsewhere. I hope we're doing enough to make it worth it, but that's totally up to you.

Anyway, blessings to all. I try to live with no issues with anyone. It's not a way to live when you constantly have a problem 365 days a year and always look for the negative. But that's just me.

Alex

What high schools, in Georgia, do we need to create recruiting pipelines?

Grayson has been good. We got one from Buford this year. Prime Avenue has been good recently.

Where do we need to break through?

No McCollum, Reeves and Sutton is dressed but hasn't been practicing, he might be an emergency guy tonight.

Gents,

Any comments on if the staff is tracking the following guys and if they are gettable? I’d love to have them all:

WR Ryan Davis, New Mexico State - Roswell,GA
WR Daejon Reynolds, Pitt (FLA) - Grayson HS
OL Charlie Patterson, UVA - Fellowship Christian
DL, Kameron Wilson, Cincy - Jonesboro
DL, Matthew Alexander, UCF - Buford
DB, Jordan Favors, App State, Griffin, Ga
RB, Jordan Louie, UNC, Meadowcreek(Norcross)
DB, CJ Heard, FAU, College Park
DL, Jacob Merrifield, FAU, Winder Ga

Gardner-Webb and Temple:

Sept 6 and 20. Who’s going? Who are you bringing?!

Dwags Nov 29 in Mercedes Benz. Can we make this a legit home game and bring people? Buy the tickets NOW!!

Dabo, Nardouche, and Fran. Show then a home time. We know we all hate those people.

Revenge on VA tech!

Thats SEVEN home games and FIVE (5) revenge games!!!! The Benz is right next to us if it’s not a home game thats on us! Quit your bitching and let’s do this.

Plan it NOW.

Buy now and give to tech fans later if you can’t make it. We all swarm or we die to cheap UGA RAID.

Came in late and beat out Kirby for 5 star Justus Terry today. Every body and their mama thought Kirby had him.

This article just shows how different things are for Tech in recruiting!

"On Wednesday, not only did Key assemble what will be the highest-ranked class in program history, but he did so while going head-to-head with some of the sport's biggest brands. After beating out both Ohio State and Tennessee for five-star offensive tackle Josh Petty back during the summer months, the Yellow Jackets held off an 11th-hour push from USC and secured a signature from prized four-star athlete Dalen Penson. That came a week after flipping four-star safety Tae Harris from Clemson."

Current records

Bronston 69-52 (7-3 last week)
Kelly 62-59 (8-2)
Sed 58-59 (7-3)
Alex 46-63 (7-3)
*We all pushed on Stanford-San Jose State last week so not counting it

ACC Championship Game:
-SMU (-2.5) vs. Clemson
SMU: Bronston, Kelly, Alex
Clemson: Sed


We are planning on rolling over the records into bowl season and doing a pick for each of the bowl games with ACC teams in them.

Here in Georgia, Jackets fans have a few commits that will suit up for a GHSA state title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a couple weeks. Carrington Coombs (Hebron Christian) and Christian Garrett (Prince Avenue Christian) will battle in the Class A-AAA Private championship game on Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Then a few hours later, Andre Fuller Jr. And Grayson will battle Carrollton in the Class AAAAAA championship game at 7 p.m.

DB commit Elgin Sessions and his Dutch Fork team also won tonight in the semis to advance to play for a South Carolina State Championship next Friday against Summerville at 2 p.m. at South Carolina State's stadium in Orangeburg.

And last but not least, the big man tight end Kevin Roche and his Darien team won on Tuesday in the first round of the Connecticut state playoffs. They actually play in the second round at home on Sunday against Notre Dame at 12:30 p.m.

Jordan Allen, Shane Marshall and Josh Petty all saw their seasons and high school careers come to a close tonight with losses.