Five Most Important Things Brent Key Said On Tuesday Ahead of Week 1 Matchup vs Colorado

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked to the media on Tuesday ahead of the matchup vs Colorado. Here are the five most interesting things he had to say in the presser.

One of the main takeaways from the presser is his praise for Deion Sanders and the celebrity he is, and why he always brings the spotlight when he returns to Atlanta. Coach Prime was a major hero in the city of Atlanta for the Falcons back in the day, where he grew his stardom and became a marquee player.

“Deion is the biggest sports celebrity probably to ever play in the city of Atlanta is coming back home. I’ve equated it to Tom Brady coaching North Carolina and then going to play Boston College. It’s a big deal.”“For somebody who grew up in the ’80s, he was the top of the top—the premier guy everybody wanted to be. Baseball, football, just the persona that was created around him. You put all those things together and create an environment for a really big college football game that recruits want to come to. That’s what we want every game here at Bobby Dodd to be.”

Jameson Riggs has been quite the story, dating back to the spring and now fall camp. His versatility has him listed as the starting center for the Yellow Jackets when the initial thought was that he would be the right tackle. However, Riggs has impressed the coaching staff and made a strong impression. This will lead to a big opportunity for him to be the long-term answer at center, which is a position the Yellow Jackets struggled with last season and had a few players rotating.

“He has a good ability to manage all the 13 other guys on the field and offense. So last year before scrimmage, we kicked Jameson into center. And I saw some things there that I really, really was impressed with. And we ended up settling back out at tackle a little bit last year, got a lot of valuable reps.It was just something is we're moving guys around trying to find the best five, right? Just because you think something's going to be a certain way, right? Until you put them in, you know, put them in the fire and let them go. When Joe got banged up there for those few days, uh, in, uh, in camp, we, we kicked him in and just,wow his natural owning the whole process.

“From getting up the line of scrimmage to the calls, the cadences, all those things. it's his first game out there at center and I'm really excited for him. I'm excited the progress he's made. But to put him at center and Joe at guard and Malaci at tackle, but yet we've really developed lot of depth now on the line where those guys can all play those other positions. So one guy goes down, but now you kick somebody over, kick somebody in and you've got to, you don't really miss a beat. With a lot of years of experience at that position and a lot of guys in the building with experience and, you know, we talk about it every single day, evaluate them every single day. We don't make any decisions off of emotional thoughts. It's not because we like somebody better than somebody else. We put people out there that feel like they'll give us our best chance to win in the position they are in."

The big matchup for Georgia Tech to answer will be going up against defensive coordinator Chris Marve, who has had some success against the Yellow Jackets and Key when he was at Virginia Tech. This will have a different feel because Georgia Tech has a new offensive coordinator in George Godsey, but can he figure out the Chris Marve dilemma? That will certainly be something to watch for the Yellow Jackets.

“He's evolved as a coach. I'm sure. Look, you know, we've evolved as a program, different players, both sides. I don't think any coordinator is going to go out and call the exact same game plan that they did in a previous game where they had success. They might take things here and there from it, but again, it comes back to what we do and how we go out and execute and how we can adjust to things. In the first game of the year, that first quarter, everybody's kind of feeling each other out, seeing what's going to happen.

I know we did not play well at all. At all. We got whipped up front. We got whipped up front big time. We couldn't handle it. Poor performance. I'm sure you probably have some elements of that, right? But I mean, we have a different offense, different coordinator. We look at everything. We're gonna look at all those things, but you look at it all you want. Try to know everything there is about a play caller. They evolve and change, and all good coaches do. I've had a chance to be on the road recruiting, different things. He's a hell of a football coach. All right, really good to see him having this opportunity now at Colorado. And I wish him nothing but success; all but one came of the season. He's a good man, good dude, really good dude."

A final team captain for this season was also announced on Tuesday ahead of the Colorado matchup. This one should come as no surprise as he has been with Coach Key when the rebuild started and as the ascent of the Yellow Jackets program has continued to ascend to new heights. He’s been a team captain the past three years. Coach Key unveiled who it was.

“I was going to kind of try to make him stew a little bit, and just kind of, because like, hey, I don't want to be in the leadership role, but I'm a leader, and then if it doesn't, he's going be in my office. Boom, boom, boom, what? I walked by him in Flex probably two days ago. And I just looked at him he goes, Coach, why are you messing with me? All right, Kyle, all right, we'll do it after practice. Shocker, right? Shocker. The guy's been a voted team captain for three years now, at the end of the season. I was, I was trying to make, I told Aiden, ay Walk, and Trey that I was going to hold off on it.

And they were like, Coach, you're going to kill him., it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun. He said, coach, we've been together way too long. I know you way too well. So he was right. He was right. That is something that that kid has earned over the course of a lot of years now. He's played a lot of football. Has a super strong impact by just the way he goes about his business every day on the field, off the field to see him develop into the young man that he is now. It's been really cool to be with him for this long, to be with Kyle for this long,” said Key.

Georgia Tech is here to stay and welcomes all the bright lights and big matchups in the country. It has been a long buildup for the Yellow Jackets and the team they want to build. Last year, we got the chance to see this team build quite an audience and atmosphere at Bobby Dodd Stadium, and they were the second most-watched team in the ACC behind the Miami Hurricanes. Coach Key is welcoming the spotlight

“Finally, again, big time games and big time football here in Atlanta, at Georgia Tech, that's what's awesome. That's what's really cool. Knowing that the nation's eyes are gonna be on us, that's something that we embrace. That's something that we've wanted since we started this, we signed these games, is to be in the position to play in these types of games. But now that's the norm for our guys. It's not something different; it's not something new. The way our fans come out.

The way our students come out and the way they're on their feet from the beginning of the game till the end of the game. They do the same thing as we tell our players: there's no scoreboard, Play the next play. Tell them, hey, there's no scoreboard, there's no quarters in the game, there's no clock, cheer the next play. Anytime you open the season in a game that's an out-of-conference team, that's a marquee team in the country, it puts eyes on your team.

Competitors want to, right? They want eyes on them. That's the confidence you have to have as a top level college football player, as a top level college coach, right? You want eyes on you. You want people to see you. You want to play the best opponents. And that's what we have an opportunity to do here in two days,” said Key.

Add us as a preferred source on Google