Everything From Head Coach Brent Key In His Thursday Press Conference

Georgia Tech's big week five clash with Wake Forest is just a couple of days away and for the last time before Saturday's game, head coach Brent Key spoke to the media and here is everything that he had to say.

Injury Report......

“We're in a good place right now. Tana's still out for a little bit longer. Brett Seither is out for the game. And then Savion Riley and Chad Alexander still. We talked about those. But we are almost full force right now, as healthy as we've been all season. Credit to the training staff and strength staff and the players for the time they spend in the training room and getting themselves ready to go full force going into the fifth straight game and being the first conference game on the road.

Opening Statement….

"A big challenge for us, the biggest one of the year to this point. Hopefully, we can say that continually, every single game, because they are. This is the first ACC road game for us. We've been at home for three straight weeks. So to be able to get on the road and go through all those things and the challenges that come with going on the road, it's an early game. 48 hours from now, we'll be kicking off and there's a chance that we could have some delays, and it's nothing we haven't gone through so any challenges that present themselves, we've got to be ready for and be prepared for we've had a really good week of practice excited to see these guys go out and play on Saturday."

On the helmet decals….

“Yeah, did we talk about that a little bit a couple weeks ago? Was it? Okay. Yeah, so really been pleased with our special teams at this point, right? We had a really good week of practice again, working on things we had to improve on, things we weren't doing to the standard that we would have done it, adding things, adding some wrinkles. The volume we carry right now is increasing every week, which is a credit to the coaches but also to the players and their buy-in to it. And because of their buy-in, we've created a little bit of a special club for them to be in. You've got the original name of Georgia Tech was the Blacksmiths, right? Being an industrial, you know, foraging place.

I thought that was a good name for the guys that are on two or more teams. Then you have the Hammers, right? The Hammers are the guys that start on four or more. The four core teams, and then we have a couple of guys that are on five or six teams. Will Kiker, Chris Elko, Daylon Gordon, and Little Miller Forstall, so Myles Forristall. Those guys have done a tremendous job. I made a point to the team on Sunday, you know, we're trying to play a lot of guys on both sides of the football. You know, some of our guys that are considered, you know, starters or very productive players, they're playing around, you know, some 27, 30 plays a game. Will Kiker played 29 plays on special teams alone, plus 12 on defense last week. The other guys were at like 26, 27 plays. That's a lot of football. That's as much as anybody else. So the impact they have on the game is tremendous, but the buy-in that these guys have had of impacting the game is what's been even more fun. You know, I'm a big believer that the toughness of your team, one of the key areas, you define the toughness of your football team when you've turned the tape on, is how you cover kicks, right? How do you rush on a PAT field goal? That is a core value of mine and a core belief of mine. When you turn the tape on, if you were to watch those two things in the very beginning, I think everyone would see the same thing that I see. So I've been very proud of those guys. Huge credit to Tim Salem and Brendan Farrell for the job that they're doing.”

You look up the definition of ball coach, Tim Salem is there. From the first thing in the morning, when he's blowing that whistle through the locker room, getting everybody rolling into the special teams meeting. You can imagine what it's like, the energy that he has. He's got a birthday next week that I think you might believe how old he actually is. I think he's turning 45, 46. He's coached too much ball to be that age. The job that Farrell's done with special teams, the amount of special teams coaching experience that he's had. We were together the whole time in Tuscaloosa. I think he was there for six years. Then the last five or six years with the Dolphins. He's an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to the game of football. Been a tremendous help to me with game management organization, things that we studied during the week. In the past, it was me and Pat. Now it's me, Pat, and Brendan. Being able to converse on the sidelines with different situations and different ways to play different situations, and the impact special teams can have on those situations has been really big. Brendan's been able to connect all that together for us. So I've been really pleased with those guys.”

On freshman Christian Garrett and Andre Fuller….

“I mean, he's (Christian Garrett) a really good football player. Got a long way to go. Christian, he's big, he's strong, he's fast. Same with Dre (Andre Fuller). But like all freshmen, playing on the line of scrimmage, they're in there playing sometimes 15, 20 plays, sometimes it's 30, 40 plays, depending on really what we're in. But they're developing every week, they're improving every week. You still see them play high and try to peak and see what's going on. Christian had a couple last week where his eyes got out of place, where some of the quarterback things and he's in perfect position, perfect position, and takes the cheese and goes in. That's why we play these guys. That's why we're playing them, because hopefully they won't make those mistakes again. I've been very encouraged by the development of those young guys. Montre (Amontrae), I know he's a second-year player. Jordan Boyd's second year, but Montre has made so much improvement. He's a little different, too, because so many guys come in in January, and he came in in the summer last year. So really, when you look at him and Christian or him and Dre, they're really only about six months apart from the time they've been here. So you can almost throw those guys in the freshman group as well, who got here in the summertime.”

On Harrison Moore stepping into the starting role with the injury to Tana Alo-Tupuola…

“I think Harrison's in a good place from a mental standpoint. That's a big mental position. Getting the reps and improving things. He's very conscientious about things that he doesn't do well, no different than a quarterback. You know, I meet with him on Wednesdays after practice. He's the guy we sit down with for about 15 to 20 minutes and just talk about everything. You know he's very aware, and I think that's an important thing to have for that position. You can come in and say, Manthat , that I didn't do this well. I've got to improve on this, or how do I work on this? The big thing for a center is other guys have to believe in them. You know, whether they make the right call or the wrong call, it can't be somebody they don't believe in. No, that's not what it's supposed to be.

Everybody's got to be on the same page. I think we're progressing on the O-line. I think we are improving. We've got things we have to get better at for sure. That is very, very evident. I think they're making progress each week, and we've got to make progress this week. We've got a really big challenge for us this week with the guys we're going against and the structure of the scheme that they play. We've got to be able to establish the line of scrimmage, both run and pass, keep the quarterback clean, and be able to make adjustments. I think they've done a good job. I think as we continue to play and continue to move on this season, I'm looking for them to improve and be an even better job.”

On the outside noise and what he is stressing to his team as the noise gets louder….

“I don't hear noise. It all sounds the same to me. Whether it's good or bad, it's still stuff that's going to influence you. I think standing in front of the team and telling them, Hey, don't listen to the outside. Don't listen to anything external. Okay. Sure. Now, you tell them not to pay attention to it, but there's not a person in the world that doesn't hear something that goes on outside of their existence, unless they're just a recluse that lives under a bridge or something, maybe. You're going to hear things, but when we first started out training camp, we talked about building trust between players and coaches. I think that's the big thing. If they trust the coaches, if coaches trust the players, they're going to listen to what their coaches say. Yeah, they're going to get told how great they are about this person and that person, but that same person that's telling them that is going to be twice as hard on them on the way down. Not to listen to it. I mean, you earn these positions. You earn the right to be in a position like this. Enjoy the way it feels. That's something that should motivate players and should motivate coaches and motivate people to stay in the position they're in. When things are good, enjoy what it feels like. Don't lose it. It's another motivating factor.”

On the progression of the run game….

“Yeah, we've got ways to go still. Ways to go. I mean, we've got some really talented, skilled guys that are making some guys miss in the hole, bouncing things to, they lose contain, they bounce some things. I think we've done an okay job of establishing it between tackle to tackle. A lot of improvement can be there. The nature of what we do, you know, they've got to be good with their eyes. As far as knowing where they're going, those guys, they're not just going to sit still on the defensive side. They're going to be moving. We motion and shift and move so much, and you've got to be dialed in. The key to it is that we don't do a whole lot on offense. I know it looks like we do. What those five guys up front have to do is the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. That's what I believe in. I believe in telling them once, showing them once, and making them do it a thousand times until they get it right.

As those reps start to bank with those guys and, you know, say two people are pulling, right, understanding how they're going to play that block for you to either get around it or get inside of it. Just little things like that that come with experience playing together. You know, each week the road's going to get harder. People are going to key into your tendencies and what you do and different things. So, all right, what might be good in the first third of the season might not be that way in the middle third of the season or the final third of the season. You know, things you aren't doing well, I always talk about, you have to improve on, all right? But while you're improving on those things, you can't lose sight of things you are doing well. I hope to see us make improvement. I do. You know, I don't look at stats or numbers, I look at the film.”

On the linebacker position, and evaluated the group and Tah’j Butler's play….

“I was pleased with the players we brought in and the guys that were here that we developed. I think Kyle's playing as good a football as he's played. I really do. And is that different coaching, being a year older? All those things are involved, but it's having other good players in there and being able to play 35 plays a game instead of 65 plays a game. It's a big difference. Being able to have different packages with different guys, that's a big deal. You know, EJ, he's as solid as they come inside. Nature of his position, you're not going to see a bunch of big stat things by his name, right? Whether it's him or Kyle, whichever one's in there, I mean, those guys are running the show, getting people aligned. Tah’j man, I'm proud of him. So proud of him. I mean, he's a guy that has a lot of talent, probably got a little big in the offseason. He's up in the mid-230s, close to 240, almost. Now that he's come back down a little bit in his weight, he went out there and took his opportunity and really showed what he can do, show what he can do when the lights are on. He's earned his opportunity to play more and more. That's why you do it.”

On how to get out to a fast start…

"How about a fast start in the second quarter? How about a fast start in the second half? “How about every play we fast start? Any game, you've got to maintain your energy, and you know, it's the focus. You know, energy can be twisted two different ways. I mean, I don't want a bunch of cheerleaders running up and down the sideline wearing football helmets. I want those with pom-poms on the side, cheering them on. I don't need fake energy. I need real energy that comes from the focus and the discipline they have to be able to compete for three and a half hours in a football game.”

On what he has seen from Wake Forest playmakers and Demond Claiborne….

“Yeah, I mean, talked about both those guys the other day. It's not just those two, the number four wide receiver, the tight end, they can make plays in the underneath passing game. They have a big offensive line that's come together well in the early, you know, first three, four weeks of the season. That running back can take the distance from anywhere. If you don't play responsibility with what you do, if you don't set your edges, have contained elements in the defense and be able to anchor down and not get widened out of there, I mean, he's gonna, he'll bounce it and very similar to Malachi's run last week, that he ended up, I think Malachi had, and I think Jamal both had one, where they ended up bouncing and cutting it back against the grain. That's how teams over-pursue. They don't maintain their elements and their contained elements. We can't do that. We've got to have 11 hats on the ball, but also be where they're supposed to be. That receiver can roll. He can roll. I mean, you know, they'll use him on jet sweeps.

You know, they'll set him up to take the top off the defense, you know, getting a lot of condensed sets, you know, to run tempo fastball plays, to run regular tempo plays, condense everybody in to spit the ball out on the perimeter. Whether it be a read-toss play or a fast motion jet sweep. They've also had 16 days off. So everything we watch on tape, right? I mean, that's what you do in bye weeks. You check your tendencies, you try to break tendencies. He's been a jet sweep guy going. I mean, don't be surprised you see him, the receiver going to jet sweep and throw the deep shot to somebody else, and just things like that. They've got good skill talent on that offensive side that's scary when you look at it. I mean, he might have run 10.27, whether it’s returning kicks, right? You know, getting jet sweeps or taking the top off the defense or catching a five-yard hitch and turning it and making one person miss. We've got to make sure we know where those guys are.”

“It's different every game. You have to understand why things happen, too. And is it focused on by everyone? Is it focused by one? Is it focused by every play? Is it one play? Look, I don't think anybody in here would say Malik Rutherford didn't have a good football game last week, right? Well, what happened on the play when he dropped the ball? Do you want me to go jump his butt right there on the sideline and go tell him he's horrible? He didn't try to drop it. He momentarily lost focus. All right, probably was trying to think about making a play, because the play before something bad probably happened, right? So now he's probably thinking about turning and running with the football, making somebody miss, and making a big play as opposed to just catching the ball. Just do your jobs. Everybody, do your job.

Everybody comes out, and I was trying and making a big play. I want to make a play. How about we do our job? A lot of times, you just got to be reminded of that. A lot of times, the guys, I mean, these kids will carry something on from one play to the next. Hey, snap out of it, next play. I'm a believer that you have Sunday to Friday to coach these guys on the field, to get after them, to motivate them. And when Saturday comes, I'm not about this going and chewing somebody's ass out because they made a mistake. You're gonna get the wrong reaction from that. Most of the time, you're gonna get the wrong reaction. These guys aren't trying to make mistakes. Okay? So when one occurs, you've got to coach them through it. The guy drops the ball. Catch the ball. Well, no joke. Tell them how. Tell them what he did wrong. That's coaching. That's teaching. That's inspiring learning, inspiring people to get better.”

On anything he is seeing anything that is not letting the team hit plays down the field to Eric Rivers…

"We talked about three feet the other day, about 36 inches. I mean, Haynes drop back foot caught on the grass or in the turf, slipped his back foot, has to regather himself all right, well now you're not able to transfer your weight and put it all the way, all throws it. The ball's about that far away from him, probably two feet. The other one was a 50-50 ball up in the air. All right, so maybe the backside, whatever blocker, didn't have his hat on the inside. He was on the outside, and the guys got underneath him and caused the throw to be 18 inches off, 24 inches off. There's a lot of things that can factor into it. How do you increase your odds? You throw more of them. You throw more of them. You give more opportunities. That's the way I look at it. That's why they're 50-50 balls. I don't think it's been 50-50 one time in the history of college football. 50% of the time, the defense, no. It doesn't happen, they're more like 80 20 balls, 70 30 balls, maybe right, it depends on if our defense or offense is out there.”

On Daylon Gordon touchdown run on Saturday….

“He was so excited coming off the field. I'm trying to get to him first. Well, the whole team's trying to get to him. I mean, it was probably 20 people trying to congratulate him. Draw up what Georgia Tech football is. Write down a definition of what Georgia Tech football is. A player that represents everything about Georgia Tech. The school, the students here, the success that these students have while they're in school, and when they're out of school. The football team requires hard work, toughness, and discipline. You name it. DG is the definition of it. I'm glad he's on this team. His ceiling in life, you can't even see it. You talk about successful, DG's gonna be as successful as anybody that's come through this place."

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