Really good win Saturday night and the team did everything we asked them to do and they weathered the storm and showed grit and toughness in the game. They were able to get the result they wanted to and I’m happy for those
Offensive Players of the Week:
Haynes King and Jamal Haynes
Defensive Players of the Week:
Zeek Biggers and Kyle Efford
Special Teams Player of the Week:
Paul Moala who forced a big fumble that lead to an early second half touchdown
Permanent team captains, 12 guys received 20 or more votes, all classifications from R-Fr to SRs, the four guys were named captains, Joe Fusile, Jaylon King, Dylan Leonard and Haynes King.
Key said he called each of the captains in individually and met with them one-on-one and told them the news and then he shared it with the team after practice today and it was a cool moment. He said he is excited about the leadership being built within the program.
Key said this is a big game because not only is it the next game but it is the in-state rival and you are playing for a State Championship and bragging rights for a year. A lot of the kids have played each other growing up and that is what makes rivalries like this one great.
On whether the pressure is off the team with the bowl win, the pressure is never off me and I hope it is never off themselves. Some say pressure busts a pipe, but it also makes diamonds and you grow under pressure. You thrive under pressure. I mean these kids are Georgia Tech students and graduates that is the world they live in (pressure) and the world they love.
On the three linebacker scheme carrying over to this week, it is personnel-driven and has to do with how many receivers are on the field versus tight ends and fullbacks. If you play three linebackers against 11-personnel and three receivers you’ve basically condensed yourself down to one maybe two coverages that you can play so we would not do that. It is all personnel-driven and each game for each team there is a game plan and a scheme that goes with it. I thought we did have some success with 3 LBs last week and it allowed us to play faster and we had three, four or five guys making tackles.
On beating UGA as a player, it is huge and it is tremendous. The feeling of winning that game and receiving the Governor’s Trophy, I put in my office for my guys to see it. We have two goals each season to go to a bowl game and to beat Georgia. We don’t come out and openly talk about what our goals are so last week I began to talk about going to a bowl game because it was time to talk about that. Another goal is beating Georgia. I said in my opening press conference a year ago we will work every day to beat the team on the other side of the state and that is what we are doing and that is what we’ve done. We’ve worked every day with that goal.
On if it bothers him to see the success UGA is having right now, “You are damn right it does.” He said that rivalry games are not supposed to be one-sided and it is their job to make the game competitive and that is what makes rivalries great. In order for that to be the case it needs to be competitive and that is on us at Georgia Tech. That is on us to go out there and be able to compete for four quarters in the football game. As far as selling it to the team, they have another opportunity to play a game against our rival.
On getting the players to believe they can win the game, success comes from believing you can have success. Individual success comes from believing you are going to play a good football game. Collective team success comes from believing you are going to win that football game. You can say all the politically correct things in the world and trip over your words, but at the end of the day, you go out to win football games. You play to win football games. When you believe you are going to win a football game you will have more success and will play well and when you don’t believe in that you won’t play well and that is the case individually and collectively.
On Buster being able to help prepare the team with his knowledge of UGA, “Zero, we’ve got every game they’ve played on tape this year and last year. That is not something that really takes place. They’ve got good coaches and they have good players right and you have good coaches and have good players and we are going to put together a game plan and they are going to put together a game plan, you game plan off film. Everyone thinks those things happen but they really don’t.
On Dominick Blaylock’s value to the team this year, “We brought in four transfer receivers last year I think and we knew offensively we had to increase our production and become more explosive as an offense. The quickest way to do that in college football is to have receivers that can spread the field horizontally and vertically and then have the right trigger man that can get the ball to them. Blaylock’s added value in the punt return game was big. It will be a big challenge this week and it has been great to have him. Dom is a great guy and he comes in and doesn’t say anything like he has his mouth plugged and just goes to work and to see what he has overcome in his career and for him to be able to have some success, I’m really happy for him.
I asked if he will bring up last year and how close they were from going up two scores in Athens, he said he would talk about a lot of things this week and he is just putting one log on the fire at a time.
Someone asked a crazy question about the kids not seeing Tech beat UGA in their lifetime, Key said there is a first time for everything in your life right, guess what I know what it is and I’m the head coach and they are going to believe as I believe.
On Kirby Smart’s compliment of the Tech OL, I appreciate Kirby giving that compliment but it has zero bearing on the outcome of this football game. We still have a long way to go upfront and we’ve got a big challenge in front of us this weekend. I’m proud of the guys and the way they’ve come around this year and the way they are playing together. Most of the great O-lines I’ve been around and had the pleasure to coach, no one is going to be perfect for an entire season or game there are going to be ebbs and flows within the game and you have to sustain and come back and play consistently whether it is overcoming a bad game or a bad series and then finish in the fourth quarter and I’ve been proud of how we do that.
On how he will defend Brock Bowers, Key said he is usually quick-witted about stuff, but he has no clue. Put three guys on him or put one person on him and cross your fingers and hope things will go alright. They’ll put together a game plan and UGA has had a lot of explosives as an offense this year 40+ plays of 20+ yards, 48 he thinks explosives in the passing game and they have two RBs that are very efficient and good that can take it the distance every time. They play a lot of condensed sets and play bully ball or spread you out with motions or unbalanced sets and they have a great play-action game. To focus on one person will leave you open to a lot of things so it is a big challenge this week.
I asked him if he has a fire and brimstone speech or anything special this week, Key said he is going to be himself and he is very comfortable in his own skin and comfortable with the way he motivates the team to get them to play. Every game is different and this is a very different game from the others.
On Calvin Johnson being at practice today, He just came out to watch practice and he wants guys who played here to be comfortable doing that and being a part of the family. He didn’t address the team or make a production out of it, we wanted to watch practice and afterward he grabbed a couple of the WRs and gave them a little bit of advice on a couple of things, technique wise or whatnot. It was great to have him out there and he wants him to feel like he can come hangout whenever he wants to watch practice.
Offensive Players of the Week:
Haynes King and Jamal Haynes
Defensive Players of the Week:
Zeek Biggers and Kyle Efford
Special Teams Player of the Week:
Paul Moala who forced a big fumble that lead to an early second half touchdown
Permanent team captains, 12 guys received 20 or more votes, all classifications from R-Fr to SRs, the four guys were named captains, Joe Fusile, Jaylon King, Dylan Leonard and Haynes King.
Key said he called each of the captains in individually and met with them one-on-one and told them the news and then he shared it with the team after practice today and it was a cool moment. He said he is excited about the leadership being built within the program.
Key said this is a big game because not only is it the next game but it is the in-state rival and you are playing for a State Championship and bragging rights for a year. A lot of the kids have played each other growing up and that is what makes rivalries like this one great.
On whether the pressure is off the team with the bowl win, the pressure is never off me and I hope it is never off themselves. Some say pressure busts a pipe, but it also makes diamonds and you grow under pressure. You thrive under pressure. I mean these kids are Georgia Tech students and graduates that is the world they live in (pressure) and the world they love.
On the three linebacker scheme carrying over to this week, it is personnel-driven and has to do with how many receivers are on the field versus tight ends and fullbacks. If you play three linebackers against 11-personnel and three receivers you’ve basically condensed yourself down to one maybe two coverages that you can play so we would not do that. It is all personnel-driven and each game for each team there is a game plan and a scheme that goes with it. I thought we did have some success with 3 LBs last week and it allowed us to play faster and we had three, four or five guys making tackles.
On beating UGA as a player, it is huge and it is tremendous. The feeling of winning that game and receiving the Governor’s Trophy, I put in my office for my guys to see it. We have two goals each season to go to a bowl game and to beat Georgia. We don’t come out and openly talk about what our goals are so last week I began to talk about going to a bowl game because it was time to talk about that. Another goal is beating Georgia. I said in my opening press conference a year ago we will work every day to beat the team on the other side of the state and that is what we are doing and that is what we’ve done. We’ve worked every day with that goal.
On if it bothers him to see the success UGA is having right now, “You are damn right it does.” He said that rivalry games are not supposed to be one-sided and it is their job to make the game competitive and that is what makes rivalries great. In order for that to be the case it needs to be competitive and that is on us at Georgia Tech. That is on us to go out there and be able to compete for four quarters in the football game. As far as selling it to the team, they have another opportunity to play a game against our rival.
On getting the players to believe they can win the game, success comes from believing you can have success. Individual success comes from believing you are going to play a good football game. Collective team success comes from believing you are going to win that football game. You can say all the politically correct things in the world and trip over your words, but at the end of the day, you go out to win football games. You play to win football games. When you believe you are going to win a football game you will have more success and will play well and when you don’t believe in that you won’t play well and that is the case individually and collectively.
On Buster being able to help prepare the team with his knowledge of UGA, “Zero, we’ve got every game they’ve played on tape this year and last year. That is not something that really takes place. They’ve got good coaches and they have good players right and you have good coaches and have good players and we are going to put together a game plan and they are going to put together a game plan, you game plan off film. Everyone thinks those things happen but they really don’t.
On Dominick Blaylock’s value to the team this year, “We brought in four transfer receivers last year I think and we knew offensively we had to increase our production and become more explosive as an offense. The quickest way to do that in college football is to have receivers that can spread the field horizontally and vertically and then have the right trigger man that can get the ball to them. Blaylock’s added value in the punt return game was big. It will be a big challenge this week and it has been great to have him. Dom is a great guy and he comes in and doesn’t say anything like he has his mouth plugged and just goes to work and to see what he has overcome in his career and for him to be able to have some success, I’m really happy for him.
I asked if he will bring up last year and how close they were from going up two scores in Athens, he said he would talk about a lot of things this week and he is just putting one log on the fire at a time.
Someone asked a crazy question about the kids not seeing Tech beat UGA in their lifetime, Key said there is a first time for everything in your life right, guess what I know what it is and I’m the head coach and they are going to believe as I believe.
On Kirby Smart’s compliment of the Tech OL, I appreciate Kirby giving that compliment but it has zero bearing on the outcome of this football game. We still have a long way to go upfront and we’ve got a big challenge in front of us this weekend. I’m proud of the guys and the way they’ve come around this year and the way they are playing together. Most of the great O-lines I’ve been around and had the pleasure to coach, no one is going to be perfect for an entire season or game there are going to be ebbs and flows within the game and you have to sustain and come back and play consistently whether it is overcoming a bad game or a bad series and then finish in the fourth quarter and I’ve been proud of how we do that.
On how he will defend Brock Bowers, Key said he is usually quick-witted about stuff, but he has no clue. Put three guys on him or put one person on him and cross your fingers and hope things will go alright. They’ll put together a game plan and UGA has had a lot of explosives as an offense this year 40+ plays of 20+ yards, 48 he thinks explosives in the passing game and they have two RBs that are very efficient and good that can take it the distance every time. They play a lot of condensed sets and play bully ball or spread you out with motions or unbalanced sets and they have a great play-action game. To focus on one person will leave you open to a lot of things so it is a big challenge this week.
I asked him if he has a fire and brimstone speech or anything special this week, Key said he is going to be himself and he is very comfortable in his own skin and comfortable with the way he motivates the team to get them to play. Every game is different and this is a very different game from the others.
On Calvin Johnson being at practice today, He just came out to watch practice and he wants guys who played here to be comfortable doing that and being a part of the family. He didn’t address the team or make a production out of it, we wanted to watch practice and afterward he grabbed a couple of the WRs and gave them a little bit of advice on a couple of things, technique wise or whatnot. It was great to have him out there and he wants him to feel like he can come hangout whenever he wants to watch practice.
