ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key spoke to the media for the final time ahead of the Jackets' ACC finale against NC State in Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Jackets will aim to go undefeated in Bobby Dodd for the first time since the 1999 season on Thursday.
The Jackets had a Thursday practice in the stadium despite heavy rain as preparations continued for the Wolfpack.
"It was a Thursday mindset for us as a football program. It was a normal Thursday procedure going through practice and staff-wise, everything was the same," Key said. "We've got a one-game season and that is all it is and all that matters. We've got some really good seniors that will play in their last game at home and we've also got the opportunity to accomplish some things that not a lot of teams have accomplished here in a long time."
Key said going undefeated in their home stadium is important to the team.
"Being undefeated at Bobby Dodd Stadium is something that has happened two times in what the last 60 years, 58 years so for these kids you want to stack those types of accomplishments together so at the end of the year and at the end of the season you can have time to reflect," Key said. "That is a huge thing for these guys to be able to do and accomplish."
The point of emphasis as always with Key is the process and building up the program to win consistently and he repeated his mantra in his presser on Tuesday.
"This game is not played any different than the last game or the game before or the game before that. We've got to play one play at a time and everyone on this team is involved in the outcome of i whether you are on the field playing, on the sideline, coaching, staff, student assistants, student managers, student trainers, or anything else. Everyone in the entire organization is involved in the outcomes. We've shown glimpses of being a really good football team at times. We've shown what we are capable of doing, now it comes down to are we willing to do that every single week," Key said.
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Key said that the team is banged up and has been for some time and the extra couple of days for the bye, is not a true bye week with the Thursday night game to get healthy and help the guys with dings more than the seriously injured guys. Key said that the bye doesn't help the guys injured but helps more with guys with nicks and bumps and bruises from a long season stay fresh.
On facing NC State's defensive front, Key said they've faced every type of front this year, 3-man, 4-man, 5-man, he joked there are only a few ways to line up and no one has gone two-man or one-man upfront, he said that either the center is covered, or the center and both guards are covered or they are not and they have rules for each one of those fronts and techniques to use against them. He said NC State plays a lot of cover one and cover zero and they expect to see some blitzes and movement with those blitzes either three to a side or bringing them all and a lot of max blitzes and those things are challenging and they've got to be able to handle the pressure and blitzes and have answers to adjust to it.
Key said he is not worried about the legacy of this team right now when asked about going to back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 2014. He said that legacy is still being created and there is a lot of season left and the legacy that matters right now is Thursday night in BDS. He said after the season they can talk about memories or rejoice in things
Key said the Miami win was two weeks ago and that is like two months or two years in CFB time. He said it is like a dog's life, seven by one. He said it was a good win, but now what? You need to build upon that win to have a good season and that is how you build a legacy that you can reflect back on later.
Key said that NC State does a good job with CJ Bailey as a freshman QB of not putting too much on him and giving him some breather plays as well where he doesn't have as much on his plate every down. They don't run as much full-field deep progression type routes all the time and they use the run game to manipulate the clock and control TOP in the game. They play to Bailey's strengths as a QB and that is the mark of a good team to him.
On GT's improved run D, Key said that it starts with Tyler Santucci and the guys playing within the scheme and then it goes from there to the way that jess Simpson and Kyle Pope teach it up front and then unselfish play by the LBs and DBs to make the tackles. Once the guys have seen themselves having success it builds and they are starting to feel the improvement on D now and then it is easier to get buy-in for what they are supposed to be doing every down. They key is every person doing their job on every down.
On Trey Cooley, Key said that his goal has been making sure Cooley is successful 5-10-15 years from now not necessarily in the moment.
Key joked he would play in Piedmont Park if they let him but Thursday nights are special and GT has been lucky this year to have some unique showcases for their program nationally not just to see Georgia Tech football, but GT athletics and the school itself to people and that in turns bleeds into the football program because it is a vehicle for the school to get more positive exposure. Key said he has a lot of great memories of Thursday night games and it is special with the nighttime skyline and the city and a crisp breeze in the air on Thursday. He said he reminds the team that in a few weeks the 2024 GT football team won't exist anymore, it'll be on a piece of paper and only in memories told by the team today and when they get back together later in life that is when they can share these memories so make them good ones.
Key said his final game at BDS is something he will always remember being in front of the fans and how loud they can be and he is very thankful for the students and how much they've given to the team this year and the fans being loud and the team would run through a brick wall right now for the students.
I asked Key about the depth in the secondary and he said that he looks at it like an OL, there are two guard, two safeties, two tackles and two corners and a nickel who is like the center and they all have to work together but instead of an 8-yard box the DBs play in a 53-yard wide box and still have to communicate and play together. He said they took some lumps early in the season playing a lot of guys to prepare for things like injuries to Warren Burrell and Syeed Gibbs that test depth and he wanted to have experience and versatility in that room because if you don't that is a recipe for disaster.
He was asked about Jordan Williams closing in on the record for games played on Roddy Jones (52 games), Williams just played his 50th and would break the record in a bowl game.
Key told a long story about how fat Williams got during the covid lockdown. It is worth a listen, words won't do the story justice.
Key said SR night will be special for him because there are a lot of guys who were the backbone of this program rebuild and last year there were a lot of special guys like Dylan Leonard or Connor Scaglione but there are some guys who have been here a long time like Williams or old guys like Sylvain Yondjouen or even some guys like Jackson Hawes who have been here one year and made huge mark on the program.
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