Brent Key Makes Big Jump Up CBS Sports College Football Coaching Rankings Ahead Of The 2025 Season

Jackson Caudell | May 22, 2025

Dec 27, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key tracks his team during the first half of the 2024 Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images / Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

Ever since taking over as the head coach of his alma mater, Georgia Tec head coach Brent Key has done a pretty remarkable job of turning the program. After taking over for Geoff Collins, who never won more than three games in a season, Key has made bowl games in back-to-back seasons, including winning the Gasparilla Bowl at the end of the 2023 season. He has made a reputation of having his team ready to play in the biggest games, evidenced by upset wins over ranked teams such as Miami, North Carolina (2X), Florida State, and others, not to mention taking rival Georgia to eight ovetimes last season in a game that the Yellow Jackets had multiple chances to win.

When you do all of that, you are going to make a big jump in any coaching rankings. CBS Sports ranks every power four head coach each offseason and after ranking 54th last offseason, Key jumped up 24 spots to 30th:

"I can't help but wonder where Brent Key would be ranked had Georgia Tech forced a ninth overtime and beaten Georgia. He already took a huge leap just for going 7-6 last year, and you know the upset win over Miami and the near-miss against Georgia carried most of that weight. 2024 rank: 54 (+24), High: 24, Low: 37"

After being named the head coach following the 2022 season, Key went to work in trying to build a winning team and program. He landed Haynes King in the transfer portal and hired Buster Faulkner away from Georgia to be the offensive coordinator. The Yellow Jackets would pull off more ranked wins in 2023, beating Miami on a miraculous last-second play and beating North Carolina for a second consecutive season. He led his team to a win over Syracuse in November which clinched the Yellow Jackets' first bowl bid since 2018. Key got the Yellow Jackets within eight points of No. 1 Georgia, the first time that single digits had decided game since the Yellow Jackets last victory in the series in 2016. Georgia Tech would end the 2023 season with a win in the Gasparilla Bowl over UCF, giving them a winning season and their first bowl win since 2016.

This season has a chance to be Key's best as well. The Yellow Jackets are getting a lot of buzz as a potential dark horse contender in the ACC, which could men a potential run at the playoff. The Yellow Jackets are bringing back veteran players on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Haynes King, they have a good recruiting class and transfer class, and the schedule is very favorable for the first time in years. They have to earn it and find more consistency (Key's biggest weakness so far), but the chance is there for Georgia Tech to contend in the ACC in 2025.

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