Everything From Brent Key At His Tuesday Press Conference Ahead of The Pop Tarts Bowl vs BYU

The Pop Tarts Bowl between Georgia Tech and BYU is 11 days. One of the best bowl games of the season will between two teams who are looking to end their season on a high note.

Today, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement...

"Final opportunity for us to be able to go compete as a football team this year. I'm excited about it. Chance to get a 10th win, top 25, finish, all those things. Which, if I'm mistaken, I think it's been 10 other times in Georgia Tech history to be able to do that. And we went down last night to the dinner and press conference for the bowl game. And it was great to be around Kalani. What a great guy. He has done a great job with his team, building that team. Then the two coaches from other games were there, Sark and Biff, to just us able to really have a lot of good conversations and talks and some old stories of guys being together or whatnot. It's funny that Kalani actually hosted Sark when he was on an official visit to BYU. There was a lot of history there. It sas a fun time just going down there.

It is the Pop Tarts Bowl and the trophy is a toaster and we were able to put a Pop Tart in it and toast it, it was good that the other head coach shares the same passion for Pop Tarts and food. We had a lot in common. You see that when you look at these two football teams, we are excited to get down there, we have put our work in this week here, we will go down there, have a few days down there of practice before we get to the final days before we play a game. We are exited to be there.

We talked about before, I said that I would tell you guys about who is calling plays, (quarterbacks coach and Co-Oc) Chris Weinke will call plays in the game and we will continue to go about it the way we have done it as an offensive staff, as a collaborative effort, putting everything together, everyone has their individualized pods that they work with and work on.

I can also go ahead and say that Allen Mogridge is going to be the offensive line coach. Mo was here last year and has an unbelievable rapport with the players, with the current players, they are super excited, they have been fired up on the field and there has been really good energy between the players and the coaches, it has been good out there.

I am taking the time as we are on the field or in the building with the seniors, you know, grabbing them, having a few extra talks with them and jokes and what not, you just really want to soak it all in with the guys that are leaving and playing their final game."

1. On if Chris Weinke will coach on the field or in the booth...

"I don't know, yeah. We've talked about it. We hadn't made the final decision on it."

2. On Aaron Philo and his future with the team...

"Yeah, I can't determine whether he'll be with us at the bowl game or not. But everybody's going to make their own decisions. Everybody's to do what's right for them. We talk very openly about those things. And the one thing I've learned a long time ago, you can't control what other people's thoughts and intentions, and wants are. So, you know, my jobs provide the best of Georgia Tech, the best possibilities, or the best opportunities for guys on the field and give them everything we have and, you know, use our resources to the best of our ability. And that's college football now, though. And that's the way it's going to continue to be. The calendar changed this year, from years past, so you are seeing a little bit of a flip, you know the portal does not open until January so there is time between now and then but it does not open until then but every day you are hearing hundreds of hundreds of names of kids that are getting in the portal so I don't know how that works but it is happening.

You know it was last year, after the bowl game in January, when the, what everyone has been used to with the coaching cycle and what not, but we have prepared for it and thought that it could happen this way but again this is the way that college football is now and that is not going to change until an authority from above comes in and puts a calendar that works for everyone."

(Since the end of Brent Key's press conference, it has been reported that Philo intends to enter the transfer portal).

3. On if the coaching turnover is a distraction...

"I don't consider it a distraction at all, guys get other opportunities, they have to do what is best for them and their families, like I said, it is no different than players and coaches. We as the adults are no different from players and players are no different than the adults. Everybody's looking for the best opportunity for them. And they've got to do what's best for them and their families. I mean, there's no distractions. I don't know if I've been on a team in the last 25 years that hadn't had something take place with people transitioning and leaving.

And so, you know, we've got a lot of people on staff now. We've got a lot of people on staff. So it fills in pretty quickly and we're going to fill those spots in and you know, there's not distraction when it comes to that part of it, distractions are things that are made up externally and if kids want to buy into it, then it is a distraction but there was zero distraction out on the practice field today, you know it is business as usual, we are game planning as usual, it was a full game plan day and today was a Tuesday practice."

4. On the challenges of not having so many offensive staff members when it comes to things like practice and game planning...

"There is nothing challenging about it or different, it is Chris is leading the offense, this is a collaborative effort that we have been putting together for the last three years, there has not been one person that sits up there and does one thing.

Mo is here. Mo's an excellent game planner, an excellent designer of schemes and plays and formationally. So, no, I mean, there's zero stress on it. You know, the only thing is maybe, you know, when you're holding cards up for the scout defense, you know, but like I said, we've got plenty of people around here that can go hold. I mean, Flynn was out there today, holding cards in a couple of periods. He got a little winded about period six or seven, but he had to call Simit for him. There are plenty of people in place for that."

5. On how to approach the college football silly season and rumors...

"Yeah, I mean, it's, if you allow emotional things and the things that can create emotion, then you too create emotion, then that's going to be a detriment to the success of the team, right? You know, it sounds, hey, be where your feet are. Yeah, you have to be where your feet are. But you also have to plan for the future. You know, And every day is learning now. I mean, it's for everybody across the country. You know, there's things that pop up and change and are different. And it's how you adapt and how you adjust. Look, I mean, I think everyone realizes, like, this is college football now. Right, so to sit there and complain about it and cry over spilled milk or want this or I wish I'd done this or, you know, I want to do this.

I mean, you're just wasting time. I mean, you have a plan, you put your plan into action. And those plans are in place for 365 days of the year, whether it's recruiting your own team and building relationships. I mean, but at the end of the day, you have to do it, or I have to do what's best for the football team. And what's best for our future success. Not what people consider distractions in January. You know, I'm worried about what people say in September, October, November. We build our football team."

6. On the offensive coordinator search...

"Good. Good. Okay. It was good. I mean, I feel pretty strongly about what direction we're going. You want a distraction. Start bringing people in a week before you play in the game. That's a distraction. Right. I know what's best for this football team. I know what's best for this entire program. And that's what we're working at."

7. On the seniors that graduated...

" I mean and there's guys that people openly said there's no way this person can can graduate from Georgia Tech and bam they do they said that about me too so I think all of them graduate the higher GPA than I did I don't think you could be any lower than I was by the way but proud of them for that proud of what they've done here the, some of them six months, some of them six years, and what they've done here, and they'll forever be Tech men and part of this family."

8. On the increased salary pool for assistants and how that will help build his staff...

"Yeah, it goes all with everything. It goes, you know, coaches, staff, retention, new people coming in. And, you know, everybody talks about it. Everyone talks about the coaches on the field, the 10 position coaches but those position coaches are only as good as the people behind them and that is where you want to build the best staff overall.

You know the support staff within the building, you can't go without saying that the job from player development to operations to research and analytics, those areas that are so important to our day to day process, the things that we do to put together a game plan each week, the travel, there is a lot that goes into it and those are the ones that are extremely important too and those are, to keep a solid foundation and core of those guys in the program, that is what really allows you to build over the years."

9. On if wide receivers coach Trent McKnight is still with the program...

Look, people that are probably this program that are here coaching, I mean, if I get inclination to somebody doesn't want to be here, they ain't going to be here. That bottom line, we ain't going to play that game. I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of coaches. So we had a good talk on the field today, if that answers your question. We talked about the formation that we're putting in for the game plan, people in the formation. I don't know, I'm going to go ask them now, though."

10. On the high school state championships...

"Yeah, I mean, high schools are our lifeline. It's our blood. But I dare to say I'm in pretty much of a phone booth or a cylinder or whatever of what I'm looking at right now. But our staff meet at 1 o 'clock, we do go over the high school game scores and predictions for he upcoming games and whatnot."