Brent Key tops latest hot board for major college football opening

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key celebrates after a victory over the Syracuse Orange | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech is flying high and has a College Football Playoff appearance on the mind. At 9-1 and ranked No. 16 in the latest CFP rankings, the Yellow Jackets are looking to either win the ACC for a likely auto-bid or potentially hop into the postseason tournament with an at-large even if they do lose. However, as December dreams abound, head coach Brent Key remains a popular target for other programs.

College football coaches have always had to deal with the news clutter of hearing their names thrown around in searches during the season, but the 2025 cycle is unique in how early the chaos got started plus how many schools are now hunting down new head coaches before the regular season even ends. Just in the ACC, Virginia Tech already fired one guy and hired another, James Franklin, within a couple months.

The Franklin move only further puts pressure on schools with open jobs to partner up before the game of musical chairs hits overdrive in the finale Week 14 of the regular season. Right now, Lane Kiffin's status appears to be the next big domino everyone else is waiting on, but there's one school that doesn't really have Kiffin on their radar but certainly does have GT's Brent Key high on the mind.

That school and job opening is Penn State. The Nittany Lions are a sleeping giant, sort of like a Nosferatu sitting in their castle way up north on some snowy hills. They aren't meddling with many of the top options at the SEC openings, but Key is sitting right there as a prime Nittany Lion candidate. At least, that's the word according to Penn State reporter Jon Sauber, who placed Brent Key No. 1 on his latest hot board.

Fireworks burst overhead as the Penn State Nittany Lions take the field prior to a White Out game | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

"It’s no guarantee that he gets the offer or that he takes it, but right now Key is the strongest combination of the candidates when it comes to being someone Penn State likes and someone who is realistically hireable," Sauber wrote. He had Key ranked fifth on his previous hot board but heard enough positive inklings linking Key to Penn State that he moved the Georgia Tech coach all the way to first.

Sauber listed Kalen DeBoer, yes, the Alabama head coach, as the No. 2 man on his list, arguing that Penn State is very high on him. However, Key had to take the top spot because of his higher likelihood to actually accept the position. "It’s just more likely that Key is available and willing to take the job," says Sauber.