ATLANTA- Week two of the Brent Key era continued on Tuesday with a two-plus hour morning practice session and after practice, Key spoke with the assembled media to preview the Duke game and update the status of a few players.
"We have a one-game season coming up again this week and we have seven of them left and we have to play each week like it is its own season," Key said. "Play like there is nothing behind it and nothing in front of it and I think if those guys do that it will help bring it in focus and give them what they need to go out and execute the way they need to execute and prepare the way they need to prepare throughout the week of practice to play successfully on Saturday."
Star Tech free safety Jaylon King's season is at least on hold following a lower leg injury in the Pitt game that led him to leave the field. Key explained that King had surgery and is out this week.
"Jaylon got hurt in the Pitt game and he will be out this week. He has had surgery and he is a good football player and it is an unfortunate incident for Jaylon. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family moving forward," Key said.
When King went out of the game, true freshman Clayton Powell-Lee stepped in and played well at free safety. With more time to prepare this week, the Jackets could look at both Powell-Lee, strong safety Derrik Allen who knows both positions and Notre Dame transfer, Khari Gee, as potential free safety options.
"We have ample people in that position that we know are ready to step up and make plays as they did on Saturday," Key said.
Key's big mantra this week is the guys need to shut out outside noise. The team has not won back-to-back games since Nov. of 2018. Key said success is the enemy of success and there are so many things in kids' heads these days from social media and the outside and their job is to put the truth in front of them and get them to focus for practice and then on Saturdays.
Key said Duke is a good opponent and he is impressed with the job Mike Elko has done there this season and how disciplined they are in all phases of the game. They don't hurt themselves and they do not turn the ball over or commit many penalties. Duke is 4th in the country in turnover margin as well. KR/PR guys are dynamic and can flip the field easily.
Key likes their QB Riley Leonard and he can throw it and run well and they have some designed runs for him that are tough and he has a lot of moxie. He is like their point guard on the field running the offense.
Defensively he said Duke is very sound and he said they have two very good DTs. He said defensively they match your scheme well against formations and they get pressure on the outside receivers.
Key said they had some success stopping the run against Pitt, but Duke runs the ball in a very different way so it is something different they have to get ready for.
Key said they've changed some of the structure of practice now, but it is still just football, they changed the der of things or tweaked a few other things he thinks will be best for the program and the kids.
Key said they have to improve the pass protection for Sims and they had some communication issues in the game up front that led to some mistakes. He said they have to keep working the kids so they can take what they do from the practice field to the game field without short-circuiting. They had guys block the wrong way or slide protections the wrong way in the game and they are working to address that now.
Key said that Charlie Thomas has to keep playing with the fire he does and they are not going to worry about the targeting piece because they do not want to take away his aggressiveness. He is going to be a striker and they view him as a loaded weapon out there and he is working to avoid some of those things that led to targeting calls, but they still want him to be aggressive at the same time.
On Thacker and the defense, he said going into the Pitt game they said the defense group was going to be the fastest group on the field that day and they challenged them to play like that. They swarmed to the ball, created turnovers and they had a great game plan for Pitt. He said Thacker worked with coach Knight, coach Turner, coach Tillman and coach Semore (Boogie) to come up with the plan so the kids could play with clear heads and as fast as possible while still being able to make adjustments as needed. That is the "key to good defensive football is having 11 hateful guys going in the same direction as fast as they possibly can."
On Clayton Powell-Lee stepping up for Jaylon King, he said this isn't the YMCA and they don't just play guys because they are on scholarship. You don't deserve the right to play, you earn the right to play. CP Lee has become a better football player and he has a good understanding of the game and he is learning and growing within the scheme. He said he likes the younger guys to cut their teeth on special teams and often with young guys it is not physicality that leads them to playing a lot but their football intelligence and CP Lee picks it up clearly and easily, but he only has so many reps under his belt.
I asked Key about the fact they haven't won two games in a row since PJ left and he said success is the enemy of success and more people die going down Mount Everest than climbing up Mount Everest. He said when you start looking at what you've done in the past you are going to fall. He said they are focused instead of stacking days and focused on playing the best they can on Saturday.
The team practiced Monday for 1:10 and then did conditioning with Coach Lew, Key said everyone has been on time and working since he took over and they worked on the install for Duke in full pads today.
Key gave high praise to LB/Special Teams Coordinator Jason Semore. Key said when he dies his tombstone should read, "here lies a ball coach." He said that is the highest praise you can give a coach. Key said Semore has clawed his way up the ranks from D-2 to GA to analyst and he kept pushing and pushing. He took Valdosta State to the championship game last year as a DC and he connects with everyone on the team. He said when he approached Semore to be the special teams coordinator he already had 160-clip cutup prepared anticipating Key might ask him to do that. That shows his preparation and hard work. He had worked on it the night before anticipating Key would look to him for that.
Key also got very emotional when I asked him about Joe Fusile and Fusile's dad passing away, he said it is a tragedy and their thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
OF NOTE:
Key has taken over the head coach office and gone are the peloton and self-help/new-age philosophy books Geoff Collins had on display and instead Key has his child's artwork and pics of his family along with normal work things.
Practice remains closed to the media and outsiders for the rest of the season.
"We have a one-game season coming up again this week and we have seven of them left and we have to play each week like it is its own season," Key said. "Play like there is nothing behind it and nothing in front of it and I think if those guys do that it will help bring it in focus and give them what they need to go out and execute the way they need to execute and prepare the way they need to prepare throughout the week of practice to play successfully on Saturday."
Star Tech free safety Jaylon King's season is at least on hold following a lower leg injury in the Pitt game that led him to leave the field. Key explained that King had surgery and is out this week.
"Jaylon got hurt in the Pitt game and he will be out this week. He has had surgery and he is a good football player and it is an unfortunate incident for Jaylon. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family moving forward," Key said.
When King went out of the game, true freshman Clayton Powell-Lee stepped in and played well at free safety. With more time to prepare this week, the Jackets could look at both Powell-Lee, strong safety Derrik Allen who knows both positions and Notre Dame transfer, Khari Gee, as potential free safety options.
"We have ample people in that position that we know are ready to step up and make plays as they did on Saturday," Key said.
Key's big mantra this week is the guys need to shut out outside noise. The team has not won back-to-back games since Nov. of 2018. Key said success is the enemy of success and there are so many things in kids' heads these days from social media and the outside and their job is to put the truth in front of them and get them to focus for practice and then on Saturdays.
Key said Duke is a good opponent and he is impressed with the job Mike Elko has done there this season and how disciplined they are in all phases of the game. They don't hurt themselves and they do not turn the ball over or commit many penalties. Duke is 4th in the country in turnover margin as well. KR/PR guys are dynamic and can flip the field easily.
Key likes their QB Riley Leonard and he can throw it and run well and they have some designed runs for him that are tough and he has a lot of moxie. He is like their point guard on the field running the offense.
Defensively he said Duke is very sound and he said they have two very good DTs. He said defensively they match your scheme well against formations and they get pressure on the outside receivers.
Key said they had some success stopping the run against Pitt, but Duke runs the ball in a very different way so it is something different they have to get ready for.
Key said they've changed some of the structure of practice now, but it is still just football, they changed the der of things or tweaked a few other things he thinks will be best for the program and the kids.
Key said they have to improve the pass protection for Sims and they had some communication issues in the game up front that led to some mistakes. He said they have to keep working the kids so they can take what they do from the practice field to the game field without short-circuiting. They had guys block the wrong way or slide protections the wrong way in the game and they are working to address that now.
Key said that Charlie Thomas has to keep playing with the fire he does and they are not going to worry about the targeting piece because they do not want to take away his aggressiveness. He is going to be a striker and they view him as a loaded weapon out there and he is working to avoid some of those things that led to targeting calls, but they still want him to be aggressive at the same time.
On Thacker and the defense, he said going into the Pitt game they said the defense group was going to be the fastest group on the field that day and they challenged them to play like that. They swarmed to the ball, created turnovers and they had a great game plan for Pitt. He said Thacker worked with coach Knight, coach Turner, coach Tillman and coach Semore (Boogie) to come up with the plan so the kids could play with clear heads and as fast as possible while still being able to make adjustments as needed. That is the "key to good defensive football is having 11 hateful guys going in the same direction as fast as they possibly can."
On Clayton Powell-Lee stepping up for Jaylon King, he said this isn't the YMCA and they don't just play guys because they are on scholarship. You don't deserve the right to play, you earn the right to play. CP Lee has become a better football player and he has a good understanding of the game and he is learning and growing within the scheme. He said he likes the younger guys to cut their teeth on special teams and often with young guys it is not physicality that leads them to playing a lot but their football intelligence and CP Lee picks it up clearly and easily, but he only has so many reps under his belt.
I asked Key about the fact they haven't won two games in a row since PJ left and he said success is the enemy of success and more people die going down Mount Everest than climbing up Mount Everest. He said when you start looking at what you've done in the past you are going to fall. He said they are focused instead of stacking days and focused on playing the best they can on Saturday.
The team practiced Monday for 1:10 and then did conditioning with Coach Lew, Key said everyone has been on time and working since he took over and they worked on the install for Duke in full pads today.
Key gave high praise to LB/Special Teams Coordinator Jason Semore. Key said when he dies his tombstone should read, "here lies a ball coach." He said that is the highest praise you can give a coach. Key said Semore has clawed his way up the ranks from D-2 to GA to analyst and he kept pushing and pushing. He took Valdosta State to the championship game last year as a DC and he connects with everyone on the team. He said when he approached Semore to be the special teams coordinator he already had 160-clip cutup prepared anticipating Key might ask him to do that. That shows his preparation and hard work. He had worked on it the night before anticipating Key would look to him for that.
Key also got very emotional when I asked him about Joe Fusile and Fusile's dad passing away, he said it is a tragedy and their thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
OF NOTE:
Key has taken over the head coach office and gone are the peloton and self-help/new-age philosophy books Geoff Collins had on display and instead Key has his child's artwork and pics of his family along with normal work things.
Practice remains closed to the media and outsiders for the rest of the season.
