Brent Key's Answer On Being Adaptable In The Current Landscape of College Football Is A Refreshing One

College Football coaches are not the most adaptable people you'll meet. The game has changed so much over the course of just this decade, and it seems like it is every year. There are new things that coaches have to deal with and new rules to adjust to.

Some coaches have chosen to make their displeasure with the current system known, whether it is the transfer portal, NIL, or other aspects of college football that they don't like, but some have been welcoming to the change and trying to adapt the best they can.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key fits into the latter part of that category.

When talking about the new landscape of college football at the 2026 ACC Football Kickoff, Key did not hesitate to talk about why he has not problem adapting to the new way of college football:

“What else am I going to do? Seriously. Am I going to object to it? No, I don't want to do that. I don't have a say in it. We could walk out of here and have three different rules or a change in something. You have to be adaptable. You have to be able to change.

People say, oh, you know, kids are different now. Well, so are the adults. We are too. We're the ones that set the example, but the same guys that want to complain about a lot of the things in college football need to look themselves in the mirror. They're the ones jumping jobs every two years too. Let's be real. The adults in the room sometimes end up being the bigger problem.

I'm very transparent with my team about that. We talk very real in terms of that. Look, we're co-workers. This is no dictatorship at Georgia Tech. I'm the head coach, I'm the leader, yes, but we have to work together, and they understand that. It's about the players at Georgia Tech. Always has been and always will be as long as I'm the head football coach there.”

Different Approach

Brent Key Georgia Tec — Jul 16, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key speaks to the media during Media Day at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Key's approach to this topic and his answer here give a glimpse into why he has been able to be so successful at Georgia Tech during his three years with the program and get them back to a level of respectability. There is still more work to do, which Key himself will admit, but Yellow Jackets fans should be glad that they have a head coach who is open about this subject and trying to adapt and do the best thing for the program instead of being stubborn.

Key has not been hesitant in using the transfer portal to help build back this roster and he has found a useful way to sell Georgia Tech as a great program, which he continued to do yesterday in Charlotte:

“Personally, Georgia Tech is, in my opinion, the greatest place in the entire country to get the combination of both, all right, and you have to find the right fit, to answer your question. You have to have people in your program that understand that football is going to come to an end, all right? There's a life after football. Not life when you graduate because I want every one of these guys to play in the NFL for a long time, to reach all their dreams. But you got to have the right fit, the right person. That's a culture that was established in our locker room three years ago, three and a half years ago, that they'll tell us.

That doesn't mean everything is rosy the day everybody walks in the door. The roster turns over 30, 35% every January on every team. To find the right fit to come into your locker room -- and I know every coach comes up here and talks about the fit, the fit, the fit. The fit is unique to each individual program in school. It's unique to where you are."

Before Key took over, Georgia Tech had not made a bowl game since 2018. They have made one in each of his first three seasons, outperforming preseason win totals each time, as well as being a factor in the conference race each season.

There is plenty of growth for the Yellow Jackets to make, but they have the right attitude from their head coach as the way to go about it.

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