Would in-season coordinator changes benefit Georgia Tech?

There are three weeks left in the season, but there have already been a number of coordinator changes, as well as head coaching changes in the country.

Just yesterday, Michigan made an expensive decision to fire offensive coordinator Jason Beck, while Ohio State (special teams), Oklahoma, and Purdue have made changes in recent weeks. One week after Oklahoma fired Ben Arbuckle, the Sooners went on the road and beat Florida.

Sometimes a coordinator change during the season can work, sometimes it doesn't, but programs have wanted to bring a shakeup to their seasons after poor performances.

Which brings us to Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets have been arguably the worst power four team in the country and I don't know that there is a lot of debate. Dating back to last November, Georgia Tech is 3-11 and one of those wins is against Mercer, an FBS opponent. They have been the worst team in the power four dating back to the end of last season.

But just focusing on this season, the hires that Brent Key made in the offseason have not worked. George Godsey has not been able to have the same kind of success that Buster Faulkner had, with the running game disappearing and the offensive line turning into a disaster. After some encouraging performances, the quarterback position has completely went the other way. On Saturday against Louisville, Georgia Tech rotated between Alberto Mendoza and Grady Adamson and it did not work.

The defense has been the bigger problem. Jason Semore's unit has been a disaster this season and currently hold the current stats after nine games:

3rd down conversion D - 95th
4th - 134th
First down - 128th
INTs - Tied for 132nd
Passing ypc - 120th
Rushing - 136th
PPG - T121st
Sacks - T113
Total D - 124th
Turnovers gained - T123rd

It is not an exaggeration to say that Georgia Tech's defense has not been good at anything this season.

Both of these hires were criticized at the time, and they have not aged well. However, when it comes to making changes to his staff, Key has been reluctant to do so and maintained that stance on Saturday night after a 44-17 loss to Louisville:

GET READY TO COMPETE

Pick your champion (you can change it later). We’ll email you when brackets open.

No purchase necessary. 50 U.S./D.C. 18+. Entry opens 3PM ET Dec 6, 2026 and closes 8PM ET Dec 18, 2026. Void where prohibited.See for complete details. The College Football Playoff (CFP) is not a sponsor or administrator of this contest.

"I'm not going to say I can give you the politically correct answer. Timing. is right in that, I don't want to say too many things, the wrong thing or too many things, but look, to be able to work towards putting game plans together, but also working on what this program needs, right, to put your finger on it. And look, I meet with players all the time. That's part of what we do. And that's my job. My job is to establish the culture of the team and the accountability in the team, to maintain the discipline of the team, okay? And then everyone else's job is to follow along with that, right, follow in line."

While the question was not specifically asked about the coordinators, Key did answer a question about if he made decisions too quickly this offseason for his program:

"The first thing to work to change something is to dig in and figure out the root problem. Because when things like this occur, it's very easy to say. The first thing is, root problem. The first thing is, well, why? Why does this happen? And then to be put on the spot, it's very easy for somebody to just say something. Well, now that becomes the gospel. To do the due diligence and to do it the right way, you can't succumb to an easy answer. You've got to dig into this and really find out why. Because when there's a commitment to change something, you've got to get all the information.

Look, I've been meeting with players and staff. nonstop really for a long time to figure out what the issues are. A lot of times they're not just blindly in front of you. That's why I said I have a pretty good grasp of what the issues are. But that's some of it. Yeah, definitely. I'm never going to sit up here and make an excuse. I'm going to take the bullets for all of it. That's my job. That's what a head coach does. That's what a leader does. But how do things spin so 180 so quick? There's factors that go into it."

I think you can make an argument for either side in this debate.

On one hand, both units have been so disastrous that one could say that things can't get much worse. On the offensive side, Georgia Tech does have QB's coach Chris Weinke, who called plays during the bowl game against BYU, to step in if they made a change.

On defense, it certainly could not get much worse. The Yellow Jackets have been so bad on that side of the ball that there is almost certainly no way they could be worse if they made a move.

But to argue the other side, there are only three games left and Georgia Tech does not have anything meaningful to play for. They are 2-7, have not hopes for a bowl game, and are going to be significant underdogs against Clemson, Wake Forest, and Georgia. College football can be a wild sport, but it would be truly shocking if Georgia Tech won any of those games or were even competitive in them, not matter who the coordinators are on either side of the football.

While the moves would make sense, I don't think they are going to change any of the outcomes or improve the team. Godsey and Semore have been poor hires that have not shown any signs they should have these jobs, but I don't think with three games left anything is going to change. Perhaps that is the wrong way to look at it and Brent Key will change his mind either ahead of the game against Clemson or after.

This is going to be a major offseason for Brent Key to try and right the wrongs of what happened this offseason and make the necessary corrections. Will that include moving on from coordinators during the season?

Add us as a preferred source on Google