Georgia Tech Believes They Have The Pieces Around Alberto Mendoza For Him To Be Successful

When you are bringing in a new quarterback, especially one who has never started a game, it is imperative to put them in a position where they can succeed and not have to do everything themselves.

While Georgia Tech did not have a new quarterback last season, they put a lot on Haynes King's shoulders in most games, especially towards the end of the season. With the defense struggling, it became the offense's job to keep them in games, and that met with mixed success.

King is now gone, and the Yellow Jackets have had to plug a lot of holes on the team, not just at quarterback. Alberto Mendoza is going to be taking over for King after transferring in from Indiana, and one thing that Georgia Tech is hoping to avoid is putting everything on his shoulders.

After the first practice of fall camp on Monday, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked about Mendoza's progression, as well as how they are going to put him in position to succeed:

"Yeah, I mean, he's developing every day. You know, I talked to him for a long time today. Yesterday and today. And honestly, it felt for the first time it was Georgia Tech's Alberto Mendoza. And we talked about it. I mean, shoot. Anytime you come from somewhere else, I mean, what are you always doing? You're always thinking about what happened this time last year. So there's always a natural comparison to whatever you did to your previous year, whether you were a freshman, you were comparing it back to high school, right, transfer, or you were here comparing it back to last year at this time. That's human nature. I've been excited to see his progression. Leadership, I think that's one of the most overused words right now in all of football, all of sports, probably in life.

You try to force a square peg in a round hole a lot of times with this leadership thing, and you don't truly allow the guys that are leaders to rise up and lead in moments when they need to. If you had 100 leaders on the team, you'd probably go 100 different directions and have no success. So I want him to be him. I want him to understand that we've got a full offensive toolbox to be able to go use. He doesn't have to go win every game. We don't have to go out there and throw 90%. No one to throw the ball away. No one to check the ball down and take the profits.

We're in a good position to kick. Understand the situational ball. He's brilliant. He is really, really, really smart. You know, he's just got to continue to know that we've got enough things around him. We've built a defense to be able to play good defense this year. And we'll allow him to play as he continues to evolve in the offense and evolve as a quarterback here."

Has Georgia Tech done that?

Brent Key Georgia Tec — Sep 20, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the sideline against the Temple Owls in the third quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you are skeptical about Georgia Tech having a good defense around Mendoza, it would be warranted. That is not to say that the Yellow Jackets can't or won't have a good season on that side of the ball, but Key is on his fourth defensive coordinator in as many seasons in Atlanta, and the program has not been able to figure out that side of the ball.

Jason Semore was hired in part because of his ability to coach and develop the linebacker position and also in part because of the kind of defense that he likes to play, which is aggressive. Georgia Tech suffered from poor linebacker play last season and a defense style that was far too passive.

As Key eluded to in his press conference yesterday, Georgia Tech feels it has the pieces on that side of the ball to be successful, particularly along the defensive line. Key continued to harp on this group's size and how they are going to impact games.

It is not just defense though. A quarterback's best friend can be a strong running game and that is something that Georgia Tech feels it has and with good reason. Justice Haynes, Malachi Hosley, J.P. Powell, and the rest of the running back room have an argument to be one of the best in the ACC and Key spoke at ACC Media Days about how he wants this team to be able to rely on the running game to take some of the pressure off of Mendoza:

"When you have a new quarterback -- and, look, quarterback is the most important position in all of sports, in my opinion, in all of sports. How do you take the pressure off of him? Right there. That's how you take the pressure off of him. Allow him to develop and grow as a quarterback. Doesn't matter how talented you are. There's firsts in everything at that position. That's on us as coaches to make sure we don't put him in a position to have to win every game all year long, right? Let him grow into that."

Will Georgia Tech be proven to be correct? Only time will tell, but after day one of fall camp, they feel confident that the running game will be among the best in the ACC and that the defense is going to be improved.

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