Georgia Tech not shying away from higher expectations

It has been a decade since expectations were this high for Georgia Tech. At least by those who cover the ACC on a regular basis.

Tech has been predicted to finish fourth in the conference standings in 2025.

That prognostication might not seem like a reason to sound the celebratory horns, but for a program that hasn’t won a league title since 2009, or even been to the ACC title game since 2014, heightened belief in the Yellow Jackets from outside the building may at least show much brighter days on the horizon.

“Before I got here we were 3-9 (in 2021). And then 5-7 (in 2022). It’s a steady progression,” Tech senior safety Clayton Powell-Lee said. “So just knowing that I was a part of that foundation and knowing where this team is going to, where this program is going to skyrocket to? You better buy in now because we gonna be gone in a minute.”

Tech has defied lower preseason expectations in each of the last two seasons, having been picked 12th in 2023 and 10th in 2024 before winding up tied for fourth both years.

The last time Tech was predicted to finish higher than fourth in the ACC’s preseason poll was 2015 when it was tabbed preseason favorites in the league’s Coastal Division.

Of course, those talking points mean little to nothing for the coaches and players who actually take part in the games on Saturdays in the fall. But for a fan base yearning to once again be among the sport’s elite programs, it breeds deeper reserves of hope in a team brimming with confidence.

“Look, we got good football players, right? We got good football players that work their butts off,” Tech coach Brent Key. “So they should have confidence, right?

“If you don’t have confidence, I mean, you got zero chance. And all these things we talk about they’re not giving us any reason to celebrate. They just give you an opportunity, a chance to be able to put it all together and celebrate it into the year, so I think it’s a really good thing.”

Why are the 2025 Jackets thought so highly of after back-to-back seven-win seasons?

Having guys like Powell-Lee, linebacker Kyle Efford, cornerback Ahmari Harvey and defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg back with the program is one.

Quarterback Haynes King, running back Jamal Haynes, wide receiver Malik Rutherford and guards Joe Fusile and Keylan Rutledge returning on offense is another bullet point.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Tech head coach Brent Key walks on the field during the first day of football practice on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Atlanta. “If you don’t have confidence, I mean, you got zero chance," Key says. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Add that to Tech’s improved recruiting efforts over the past two years, its overall roster improvement through free agency and its continuity with much of the coaching staff. All have set the Jackets up for success.

And Haynes said even with such a large chunk of the roster being first-year Jackets, there hasn’t been a drop off in culture or commitment.

“I think the biggest difference is the buy-in. Everyone is bought in, especially starting off in the spring with the guys coming in and NIL (name, image and likeness) taking a big turn — you’re never gonna have the same team over the years. It’s just inevitable,” Haynes said. “Then us building a bond over the spring and the summer, you definitely see the change in the program.

“Then on top of that, we have a great locker room. And as long as you have a great locker room, you have great people surrounding your team, you’ll have a great team.”

To expound upon Haynes’ point, finding college football squads who have all been together for multiple seasons is becoming increasingly hard to find, maybe even more of an anomaly than the norm. And Tech’s roster is by no means without a large chunk of transfers.

Yet Key has been able to keep a relatively small but foundational group of players together since he took over the program after the final game of the 2022 season. They understand what it would mean to get Tech back to the top of the sport’s landscape, not only for their coach, but for themselves.

“We’re in a great position,” running back Daylon Gordon said. “Coach Key played here, he understands what it means to be a GT man, a Tech man. Now I’m a Tech man. I’m in my fifth season, fifth year, graduated with my bachelor’s (degree) — I understand what it means to be a Tech man.