Brent Key is in line to be Georgia Tech’s next head coach, a person familiar with the situation confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. ESPN reported earlier in the day that Key had been targeted.
While Tech had centered its search on Tulane coach Willie Fritz as late as this weekend, the two sides evidently were unable to reach a deal.
Key emerged as a candidate during his eight-game term as interim head coach in place of Geoff Collins, during which he went 4-4 with a team that had not won more than three games in any of the previous three seasons. Key led the Yellow Jackets to two road wins over Top 25 teams, Pittsburgh and North Carolina, and directed a determined charge at No. 1 Georgia on Saturday in Athens, taking an early lead and staying within one score of the defending national champions through 2-1/2 quarters.
Against then-No. 13 North Carolina, the Jackets held the Tar Heels’ powerful offense to season lows in scoring and yardage in the 21-17 upset. Players also clearly responded to his coaching style.
“Him being the head coach here right now, we don’t even see the interim tag because we’re just so behind Key since the moment he became the head coach,” wide receiver Malachi Carter said after the Georgia game. “Just the whole team has been riding behind him. You can see the trust in him; you can see the trust that he has in us. And because of that, we just mesh, and you saw a little bit of a change throughout the season in the team in the way we performed and execute.”
While he does not have head-coaching experience, the actions that Key has taken, starting with handing special-teams coordinator duties to linebackers coach Jason Semore, make it clear he had given considerable thought to how he wanted to operate as a head coach. His old-school approach – playing a physical style and limiting mistakes – brings to mind his mentors, former Tech coach George O’Leary and Alabama’s Nick Saban. Beyond the team’s improvement, Tech fans have delighted in the obvious passion that Key has for his alma mater and coaching its team.
In keeping Key, athletic director J Batt has likely won considerable goodwill from the many Tech fans and alumni who had supported Key’s candidacy, particularly after news broke that the search had centered on Fritz.
“With no head coaching experience, he was able to get the team focused after a 1-3 start and go 4-4 for the final 8 games with two wins against ranked teams,” major donor Steve Zelnak wrote in an e-mail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday evening. “We haven’t done anything that good since Paul Johnson retired. We finished in the middle of the Coastal after being picked last. We had a real opportunity to go to a bowl if we had won against Virginia. I think Key has impressed GT folks with the way he has handled press conferences, and the endorsement from players when they were interviewed has been powerful.”
