Everything From Brent Key's Thursday Media Availability Ahead of Saturday's Game vs Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech is 5-0 and coming off of their first bye week of the season, one that was needed after their close call against Wake Forest last week. The Yellow Jackets are now going to turn their attention to Virginia Tech, which is 2-4 and coming off a loss to Wake Forest. Georgia Tech is among the favorites to get to Charlotte to play in the ACC Championship, but first things first, they are going to have to take care of a Hokies team that has played better since firing head coach Brent Pry.

For the last time before Saturday's game, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key met with the media today and here is everything that he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"So injury report, cover that. Will Benton, got hurt two weeks ago in the game. He'll be out for the year. And then Akelo Stone, Myles Forestall, will be out this week and Savion Riley and Chad Alexander still out. Everybody else full speed, full speed, anything else so like I said last week or last time the bye week was a really good time for us, we're gonna be healthy, recovered, recharge and you know full steam ready to roll on Saturday.

So a couple things, going on this week on campus with the game and It's always exciting to get back and play here in front of our fans and our students. They've done such a great job of really helping to impact the game for us. Really going on three years now, I'm not just gonna say this year, it's been this year, last year, what really started three seasons ago. And really supporting the football team and being loud, getting there early, and the fun that they were able to have, and then the energy they provided, really the energy is what feeds off to the football team. You know, and it does affect the game, it does. We need everybody to be here, we need to be loud on our own defense and especially on third downs and then help us and then have those people help impact the outcome of the football game.

So we got the anniversary of the, I think it's the 35th anniversary of the 1990 national championship team. Having all those guys come back will be cool. A lot of really good friends from those years on that team. I was thinking about it, as we were writing these notes up, I was thinking about, I think it would have been, it would have been my senior year, that it was the 10th anniversary of the national championship. I mean, I thought they were all old.

They're all in the stands right behind, I thought they were all old, and now it's the 35th year, and I'm old and so but those guys are such a you know part of our, part of our DNA is a program, you know, so many of them are support not just supportive but you know have a do a lot for us and really you know believe in what the same things we believe in and you know they're Tech men, they've gone through the same things that these players are going through right now so to have those guys back and and honor them for the 35th anniversary and then a lot of the coaches that were on that team. That really carries over to the, I think it's the 50th year of the Bobby Dodd Award, the National Coach of the Year Award and honoring the coaches with Georgia Tech back, that have been here at Georgia Tech, that have won that award.

And a lot of those guys were on that 1990 staff. So, you gotta start with Coach Ross, such an unbelievable football coach, unbelievable man. He won't be able to make it, but his son will be representing him. And then the two coordinators who later went on to become head coaches, Coach O 'Leary, Coach Friedgen, both have been, were huge impacts as coaches when I was a player, but Coach Friedgen still, I mean, I get texts from coach. Probably every Sunday breaking down the offensive plays in the game and talking about your way we use this or do this and then Coach O 'Leary and everybody knows you know what he's been meant to me is a not only player but as a young coach and an older coach and better part of really 20 years I spent with Coach O 'Leary, but now I'm just really excited to have those guys back.

Then Coach Curry will be here as well. Coach Johnson, who I've never had the opportunity to play for or work for. But over these last three years, this is another one that's been really, really a huge help for me. Now just being able to, whether it's out of the golf tournament or when he's around, just being able to bend his ear and pick his brain on different things when it comes to football and game management and offensive play setting and just what a great football mind. I say Coach Curry but just the wisdom from him. You know someone that has been a Tech man and is a Tech man but played here and coached here, was a head coach here and went on to do so many great things in his career. So those guys are all extremely special to me personally, just because of the impact they've had on me in my career and how they've helped shape it. And even to this day, with advice and letting me just sometimes rant, but they've been great and just really, really excited to have all those guys back here and to be able to honor them.

So it'll be a big weekend, but also be a big challenge for us and we've been preparing all week. Good to know that we're back at most full speed now, as far as guys that have been banged up and whatnot. And we're excited to have a have a good football game on Saturday and excited for a good challenge."

1. On Stopping Virginia Tech's ground game...

"Yeah, you gotta get off blocks. You gotta note, first thing, so many times when there's a bust or a leak in the run game, did they get the call? Did they get in line? They get in the right stance and they have the right eyes. It's all the things that happen before the snap. They lead to a lot of errors. So we gotta make sure we're sharp with that. We get the call quickly. We get down, we get set, we're ready to and then we got to pitch a fit to get off blocks. We can't stay blocked, right? You know, it's not just, you know, holding, you know, having your gap, right? It's your gap and then you got to overlap on the next one. All right, it's not just a singular person that has to make tackles.

We have to overlap and have overlap in our defense. We got to play fast. We got to be disciplined, but at the same time, disciplined watching the ball, but get off and have good get off up front and cover them on the back end when they are in passing situations to allow our defensive line to have a chance to impact the game by affecting the quarterback. But you're right, it starts with a run game with them. They've got some really good backs. They've got big backs. They're powerful. You see a lot of people bounce off of them. They've got to be sure tacklers, but that's also why the overlap has to occur. We have to build a game tackle."

2. On the potential of Virginia Tech throwing some stuff at them that they have no film on...

"Those are all hypotheticals. Those are all things we can't control the outcome of, we can't control what they're gonna do. We don't know, every time you spend worrying about that stuff, you're not worrying about your own team and getting your own team better. So, it's like every week, the game's about us. It's about what we do, it's about how we play, it's about how we finish, it's about how we how we adjust, how fast we play, how physical we play, the toughness we play with. And we preach all the time to play no scoreboard and faceless opponent, and that's what it is."

3. On Wake Forest being both team's most recent opponent...

"Not at all. You know, you've got recent memory of that team, but there's regardless if you played them or not, you're watching film you see it It doesn't have any carryover. I bet if you went across the country and did a 10 -year study, it's probably 50 /50 I mean, I don't think that I don't look at those things that is having an impact on games again, all these things outside of what our control is we worry about things that we and we can affect the outcome of. That's what we're worried about."

4. On the 1990 team showing how special of a place Georgia Tech is...

"I don't think it can be special. I think it is special. This place is special. It's very special. It's been very special for over a hundred years. We, We happen to be at a time right now where not just the football program with athletics programs are playing at their capabilities and doing things that we all want them to do, but now this place has been special for a long time. And you would have that degree from here to see the people doing the things they do in their life after football or life after athletics. That's the that's the real game.

You heard Joe yesterday on Pat McAfee, I'm sorry, Roman Reigns. You heard Roman talking about Georgia Tech and I mean, golly, you would think he had set in a recruiting meeting about what he said. I mean, it's the exact words we say. It's exactly what we talk about because it's right, you can't just make stuff up and say the same thing that the someone else says it's real. It's true It's a special place, right, but this year's football team. It's a special group of guys It really is. It's a special group of guys that have been able to accomplish special things to this point, but like I said on Tuesday, none of that stuff matters leading up to this week."

5. On the young defensive players being the cornerstone for that unit...

"Yeah, need them to play good on Saturday. So yeah, I mean, that's why you recruit, that's why you build depth. That's why you work every day to develop guys. I mean, it's Thursday, we just came off the field and the older guys, we walked through after it for an hour prior to that. We had 60 guys out on the field doing developmental practice with pads on. We're doing 15 minutes of individual. We're doing group periods. We're one -on -one pass rush, seven -on -seven, team periods, and then did a little kicking competition afterwards. developing players is really important to us and our future success.

I'm very pleased with the freshman class that we brought in as well as the young transfers we brought in to have time to develop so but look to sit there and say yeah you brought in a good class and you know the future is bright it's only as bright as the next class you bring in and the next guys you're building your roster with constantly want to elevate when we're looking at recruits right you know they've got to be equal to a better talent than the guys we currently have on the team right if you bring in guys that aren't If you don't look at it that way, you're never going to increase and improve yourself as a football team."

6. On creating a better turnover margin...

"Goal hadn't changed. The goal is to not have any turnovers. So if you wait for a bye -week to address that, you're probably not gonna be around a long time. What I'm supposed to say, yeah, we only wanna have one. We only get one, shoot, we wanna take away four or five. We wanna, and you gotta protect the football. things . It's the most important thing. Have we improved? Yes. okay, you know, the first game was the oddity that I've never seen in my career until the second game. And then another quarterback, same issue.

After that then it's we've improved but we're not where we need to be at all. That's something we work you know, we work ball security, we work takeaways. You know, takeaways somewhat or a little bit, you know, by chance, but you have to practice it. We've put a lot of emphasis on that the last two weeks. We got to get some possessions back in the game that way."

7. On getting advice from Ralph Friedgen...

"Coach Friedgen is one of the greatest offensive minds to coach the game. Things he was doing back in the late '90s and then early 2000s, I mean, those are things that you really see a lot of people do now. And taking option elements and incorporating it into, whether it be shotgun or under center, you know, spread sets, he was so ahead of his time when it came to that, and matchups. And I won't get into what we talk about or what we text about, but I had the chance over, it was early June, May or June at the Bobby Dodd golf tournament.

You know, rode around with Coach Friedgen. I mean, we talked ball the whole time, whether it be quarterback reads or or match -ups, very detailed text after games, talking about the way we use motion to create this or to do this. You really just create a two-back set there to run your one-back runs or your one-back run your two-back. It's pretty in-depth how he sees the game, coach O 'Leary, same way. To your question, no, they've never come in and tried to suggest doing things, which I appreciate, but I know them both well enough. And you know when they say something, that's their way of trying to suggest something, and look, I take advice. I mean, I tell the guys on the team to be coachable, shoot, we gotta be coachable too as adults. And there's usually a pretty good substance behind what they say. I'll tell you that.

Coach Curry, we've had some unbelievable talks in my office just on big picture philosophy, run the program, dealing with issues, handling issues. Those guys have all been really, things being Coach Johnson have talked about. I think I said in press conference a couple of weeks ago, Coach Johnson would be proud. So now those guys are all outstanding football coaches. And that's why they're coming back to be honored for a national coach of the year awards."

8. On Kyle Efford...

"Yeah, I say that all the time. That is, it's not bullcrap. It's real. It is. It's not easy. It's not easy, but it's more and more players on our team are that way. But you're not down 17 points in a football game on the road. And everybody on that sideline still has the same mentality they when the balls kicked off, right? You don't have that mentality unless you are playing every play like it has a history in life of its own, right? And that's all that matters is that play. When that plays over, next play, whether it was good or bad, hey, you learn from it, you learn what you did well, learn what you didn't do, that's why we come to sideline, we make adjustments, we coach them up. There is no scoreboard, there's no opponent. It doesn't matter who we play, right? We watch game tape to see practically things they're doing, but you get in games too, and 30, 40 % of what you see is not what you see on tape yet. They have good football coaches too, so it is about what we do, how we do it, and then how we adjust within the game and take that information and translate it back out to the field. I mean, I hope everybody on the team is that way."