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Bradley’s Buzz: Brent Key has rendered Georgia Tech relevant again​

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Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talks with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart before their game at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Saturday, November 25, 2023, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com)​

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Nov. 27, 2021: Georgia Tech lost 45-0 at home to Georgia. It marked a nadir – never had the Yellow Jackets lost by more to their arch-enemy – though it felt less a blip than the arrival of a new normal. Six weeks later, the Bulldogs won their first national championship since Herschel was a freshman. And Geoff Collins was coaching Tech.

Never had the gap between programs seemed greater, not even in the Herschel years. Bill Curry's first Tech team finished 1-9-1, but it had a moment. On Nov. 8, 1980, the Yellow Jackets tied No. 1 Notre Dame 3-3. This benefited No. 2 Georgia, which – that same day – saw Lindsay Scott run through Florida in Jacksonville.

Tech's 2021 season began with a loss to Northern Illinois, which was 0-6 in 2020, the COVID year. It ended with six losses. The final two put a round number on the depth of Tech's ineptitude. On consecutive Saturdays, the Jackets lost to Notre Dame and Georgia by the aggregate score of 100-0.

This correspondent was moved to wonder how many years might pass before Tech might again give Georgia even a semblance of a game. Five? Ten? Five times ten?

For as much as Georgia has come to rule the series, it wasn't always thus. One of the reasons the Bulldogs hired a 31-year-old Auburn man was because they'd lost 11 of the past 15 games versus Tech. Vince Dooley won his first five games against the Jackets, who, not incidentally, had decided to leave the SEC.

In January 1964, Tech led the series 27-26-5. Georgia now leads 71-41-5.

Since Bobby Dodd stepped down after the 1966 season, Tech has had 11 head coaches. Four – Bill Fulcher, Bill Lewis, Chan Gailey and Collins – never beat Georgia. Bud Carson, Pepper Rodgers, Curry and Bobby Ross each did it twice; George O'Leary and Paul Johnson did it three times.

Brent Key hasn't done the deed yet, but in his first season as non-interim coach he came closer than anybody had against Kirby Smart's Georgia since Johnson's Jackets prevailed on Qua Searcy's improvisational leap on Nov. 26, 2016. Last November, Key's Tech led No. 1 Georgia early. With 3:46 left, the Jackets drew within 31-23. Georgia fielded an onside kick and ran out the clock.

In the darkest days of the #404takeover, even a semi-close game against Georgia seemed too much to ask. When finally the Jackets fired Collins, they turned to Key, the former Jacket lineman whose first move was to ditch the branding. Tech is 11-10 with Key in charge, a monumental improvement over Collins' 10-28.

We pay attention to head coaches – and head coaches get paid a fortune – because head coaches matter. Dooley and Mark Richt made a difference at Georgia. Ross and O'Leary made a difference at Tech. So, in his stylized way, did Johnson. Smart has turned the Bulldogs into a colossus. In a quiet way, Key is returning Tech to relevance.

We watched Tech under Collins and doubted things would ever get better. A new coach, especially the right new coach, can correct all manner of failings. Spring a couple of upsets – Tech beat Miami, somehow, and North Carolina last season – and the world looks different. Last year's Jackets went 7-6 and won a bowl. Future Jackets should be better still. Tech's 2025 recruiting class ranks No. 20 nationally.

Coaches matter. Competence matters. From his first game as interim HC, Key commanded the Jackets' attention in a way his messaging predecessor hadn't. In that first game, they beat Pittsburgh, which one year earlier came to the Flats and won 52-21. Last season saw some wobbles – home losses to Bowling Green and Boston College – but the impression was of an arrow pointing upward.

The new season offers the chance to make a huge first impression. Tech plays Florida State in Dublin on Saturday. Come Nov. 29, the Jackets will meet Georgia in Athens. The guess is that they'll win one of those games. The belief is that they'll be competitive in every game.​