Brent Key: Time for Yellow Jackets to ‘take the jump’
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
On the right side of his white baseball cap, a cap with the gold interlocking GT on the front, Brent Key had written with a black marker the word “jump” in capital letters.
“Really looking at where this team is and who we are as a football team, we spent two years really climbing, climbing our way to the point we’re at now. Now it’s time to take the jump,” Key said Saturday.
The third-year Georgia Tech coach had just watched his team scrimmage inside Bobby Dodd Stadium, the Yellow Jackets’ first full scrimmage of the preseason that marked the end of the second week of practice. It’s a team that has the makings of being one that could inch closer toward the top of the ACC standings and maybe even put itself in position to reach the ACC championship game in December.
But before any of that begins to transpire, Key’s team still has 18 days before it boards a plane for Boulder, Colorado.
“I wanna see a group that doesn’t lose its edge, doesn’t lose the steam they’ve brought,” Key said of his immediate goals for the Jackets. “This is a very businesslike, focused group. It takes a minute to kind of get to know your team and know who they’re gonna be that year. I got a pretty good feel for what this team is.
“If you give them the option to have the day off or practice harder, they’re gonna wanna practice harder. That’s just kind of the mindset of these guys. And I love it, but I also gotta make sure I’m doing my job and protecting them against that.”
Key said the Jackets ran about 140 plays Saturday, broken into 15 possessions. He called the scrimmage balanced, meaning neither the offense nor the defense won the day, and added about halfway through the workout the coaches went off script because he said, “I just feel like this team just needs to play ball.”
Defensive back Will Kiker had a pick-6 Saturday. Defensive lineman Shymeik Jones blocked an extra point that was returned 98 yards for a two-point conversion by cornerback Ahmari Harvey.
Key noted the efforts of several defensive players, including linemen Christian Garrett, Jordan Boyd, Blake Belin and Derry Norris and defensive backs Elgin Sessions, Dalen Penson and Tae Harris. Junior defensive end A.J. Hoffler, a Clemson transfer, also continued to impress.
On offense, Key lauded the performances of right tackle Malachi Carney and centers Harrison Moore, Tana Alo-Tupuola and Jimmy Bryson, as well as running backs J.P. Powell, Shane Marshall and Malachi Hosley.
Tech is scheduled to have another scrimmage next Saturday.
“The details,” Key said on what’s next for his unit. “The installation’s really slowing down. We challenge them all the time, it’s not just knowing what to do but how to it and why you’re doing it. Until you know those three things you don’t truly know everything there is to know about the game or about the play that’s called.”
When the Jackets began fall camp at the end of July, Key expressed his desire to see this season’s team continue to develop mental and physical toughness, build on the foundations of discipline, improve fundamentals, hold each other accountable and develop unwavering trust. He also wants Tech to be the best-conditioned team on the field every game.
On Saturday, he circled back to those ideals and said the Jackets had made progress in all those areas. But it won’t be long before they have to step on the field to prove it, to prove they’re ready to make that next big jump.
“It’s gonna be a really big week for us in developing the team,” Key added. “I’d say the majority of the installation is in, so moving forward it’s really situational ball and really honing in on our techniques and what it takes to move that needle from good to great at each position.
“Time will start running out pretty soon. Got a lot of work we gotta get done.”
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