Everything From Brent Key's Press Conference Before Matchup With Duke
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Interim head coach Brent Key spoke to the media for the first time since he did on Saturday night after the win vs Pittsburgh. Georgia Tech has a big matchup against Duke ahead on Saturday and it is a winnable game for the Yellow Jackets.
Here is everything that Key had to say after practice today.
Opening Statement:
"We talked to the kids, we had our meeting on Monday, we obviously got back very early on Sunday morning and we had our meeting on Monday before practice and we talked to the kids about how we have a one-game season coming up again this week and we have seven of them left. We have to play each week like it is its own season and there is nothing behind it and nothing in front of it. I think if those guys do that it will help bring the focus that they need to be able to out and execute the way that they need to execute and to prepare the way that they need to prepare throughout the week to practice, meetings leading up to practice and giving us a chance to be able to play successfully on Saturday."
"Another thing that we want to talk about is that success is the enemy of success. Anytime that you have success, all it does is draw more attention to you and it creates distractions for the players, coaches, fans, things that are in these young men's heads every day, outside and external sources. Whether it be social media, media, family, friends, they are hearing one thing, but it is our job as coaches to put the truth in front of them and get those guys to focus in a short amount of time and execute every Saturday afternoon."
"We have a really good opponent coming up in Duke. They are... Coach (Mike) Elko has done a tremendous job in a short amount of time with this team. They are disciplined in all phases, offense, defense, and special teams. They don't do anything to hurt themselves, they do a great job of not committing penalties and provoking and causing other teams to commit penalties. They are fourth in the country in turnover margin right now, which is a huge challenge for us moving forward. They do a really good job on special teams, they are sound, their kick returner and their punt returner are dynamic players and have a chance to flip the field very quickly. Offensively, you can't say enough about the quarterback and the job that he has done so far this season. He is a tremendous college football player, he really is, whether it is throwing the football or scrambling or a designed read run, his pocket presence, his moxie that he has on the field, it is fun to watch, he really is. Hopefully he is not a fun player to watch on Saturday afternoon, but he has all the intangibles and does a really nice job of being a point guard on the field for that offense."
"Defensively, again, across the board as his team is, they are very sound, they play extremely hard and they have two defensive tackles who are really good players, who are strong and hold the point of attack. They are sound on the back end an know how to make adjustments and know how to match your formations with what you are doing. They will press you on the outside at the receivers spots and will make you work to get open. They don't do a whole lot, but they do just enough each week to play to what you are doing, to scheme your runs or to scheme your protections with the tweaks they have in their fronts and the line movements and line games and blitz patterns so it will be a really big challenge for us, not just on Saturday, but the entire week leading up to it."
1. On if his run defense has confidence heading into the game vs Duke...
"Every week is a new week, moving into this week, each team poses different challenges. They might be a good rushing attack, two teams both might be good rushing attacks, but they might have different ways to run the football. Sometimes it is with receivers, sometimes it is with quarterbacks and a mix of running backs, so each week there is a different challenge that we have upon us and the defense has on them. So this week, they have to take this week and look at Duke and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are and understand to trust the coaches to put them into the best position to go out and have success this Saturday."
2. On the tweaks and changes he has made...
"Football practice is football practice. You have to run, catch, throw, block, tackle, stay on your feet, sustain blocks, finish, have discipline, all of those things don't change. A little bit of the structure here and there, the order of things, those are things we look at here and there, week to week, to see what is best for our program and our kids."
3. On the increase in quarterback hurries for the defense against Pitt...
"Obviously we are here to talk about Duke right now, but I will talk in terms of the offensive line. With the front seven guys, we have a challenge, between the offensive line, the tight ends, and the running backs, we have to continue to improve pressures, I believe it was three sacks in the first quarter and a half on Jeff and it is all-encompassing work. We have to work our tails off this week, you know live reps and live work, sustaining, finishing, issues that occurred in the game, and a lot of those things that we have been talking to the team in the last several days that the game can't be so much bigger than practice that it causes people to short circuit. We have to continue to increase practice so that difference in between is not so big that when you go out on the field on game day, you don't slide a protection the wrong way or make a wrong call, so those are things we are addressing right now. We will continue to work on them extremely hard in order to obviously fix them and be a better unit pass blocking moving forward. Pass blocking, run blocking, those things we have to continue to work on them and it has been addressed."
4. On Charlie Thomas...
I don't think you can take a player like Charlie and adjust what he does. You can't take a football player that has such uncanny instincts and playmaking ability and change who they are. Now, the coaching and teaching of ways to do things, yeah we do that every single day. Charlie is a water moccasin now, he will strike you, I don't care what is standing around, he will strike you and there are parts of the games that we have to understand, he is a loaded weapon now, he is gonna strike and he is gonna hit and Coach Semore is working and drilling, doing drills in practice and things for the safety of Charlie number one and the safety of whoever he is playing against, but also be able to increase his time on the field as well and issues like that don't continue."
5. On why the defense played so well vs Pitt...
"It is all the above. We went into the game saying all eleven of those guys on the field have to be the fastest group on the field and we had to challenge them in practice last week to be able to play that way on Saturday and they were, they were the fastest group on the field. They swarmed the football, they caused the turnovers, Coach (Andrew) Thacker had an unbelievable game plan that he put together, as well as the other coaches on the defensive side, Coach Turner, Coach (Larry) Knight, Travares (Tillman), and Boogie. All of those guys put together a game plan that collectively attacked the strengths of the offense and we will work to continue to put our kids in the best position possible so that they can go out and play as fast as possible, fast as possible with a clear head and not be thinking about making adjustments and become paralyzed by overanalyzing and that is the key to good defensive football and 11 hateful guys going in the same direction as fast as they can.
6. On Freshman Clayton Powell-Lee...
"Anytime someone is playing well, they are going to get the reps, but reps come down to who are the best players. This isn't the YMCA, we are not going to play guys just because they are on scholarship. You don't deserve the right to play, you earn the right to play, and as he continues to progress and become a better football player and a better understanding of everything, when we feel he is the best guy to put in the game, he will be there."
"Defensively but then as a young guy like that, he will learn and grow within a scheme and special teams are a place where those guys make their mark. That is where they have to be a huge benefit and success to the football team as a young guy because the young guys that play, it is usually not the physicality they possess, it is the intelligence that they possess and Clayton is a really smart football player, he picks it up clearly and easily, but again, there are only so many reps under his belt that he has had a chance to experience what happens in games."
7. Update on Jaylon King...
"Jaylon got hurt in the game and he will be out this game. He has had surgery, good football player, unfortunate instance for Jaylon, but our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family moving forward and we have ample people at that position that we know are ready to step up and make plays as they did on Saturday."
8. On trying to earn back-to-back wins for the first time in four years...
"At 8:30 yesterday morning, the previous game was over. It was done. That was why I did not wanna talk about it here. I have challenged hte kids to put it behind them and as the adults in the room, we can't do something that we have asked the players not to do. So like I opened up with, this is our next season. This week is a season and that is all we are focused on. Whether, consecutive wins or something like that, succes is the enemy of it. More people die going down Mt.Everest then actually going up Mt.Everest."
"When you start looking at what you have done in the past, you're going to fall. You know, putting things together, stacking games, wins, that is all kind of bogus to us and our kids in the room. All we are focused on is is playing the best football that we possibly can at four o'clock on Saturday."
9. On the player's resiliency to bounce back from the coaching change and the events of the past week...
"I saw 105 guys that showed up on time and had great meetings and made corrections from the previous week and to install what we have for the Duke game coming up and then practiced for an hour and ten minutes and then had conditioning with Coach Lou, worked out and came back this morning on time again and had a two hour practice in full pads so that tells me all that I need to know."
10. On special teams and linebackers coach Jason Semore...
"Jason is a ball coach now. He is a ball coach. When we are all long and gone in this profession and we are laying under the tombstone, I hope that they find a place to fit "here lies a ball coach". That is one of the highest compliments that you can give somebody in this profession and that is what he is. He is a guy that has worked his way up from a division two coach. He was a long time analyst and grad assistant and just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and waiting for his opportunity and he did an amazing job when he went to Valdosta State last year and taking them to the national championship and when you look and you talk about a special teams coordinator, they have to have the ability to connect with everyone on the team you know, because it is offensive and defensive players that you are motivating and challenging and coaching to play."
"Not that other people are not capable of doing that. When someone, when that opportunity came up, when we needed to make that move, there was really no one else that I really thought about besides Boogie and it is because of his toughness, his grit, his attitude, the way he can get through to players, the way he can motivate in his own way to get players to play better then they are, you know the connection that he has with everyone on the football team and my trust in him that he would do above and beyond what was called for for that position. When I first talked about it with him, we were talking through the pluses and minuses of taking over that position, after he kind of made that decision he said "Coach, I have a 160 play cutup that we made last night and if anything happens, I might have to be in this position." He is a ball coach and I can't give him any higher compliment then that."
11. On if the defensive coaches try to find a way to get Trenilyas Tatum on the field...
"He is a very versatile player that we think a lot of."
12. On if they will move the safeties around with Jaylon King out...
"Yall have mentioned a lot of the guys in that spot, we have ample talent there, as much as you hate losing Jaylon. The leadership that he has, the poise that he has, the experience that he has, that is not a position that we are worried about finding someone to step in there to play at a high level"
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