Haynes King ‘truly epitomizes what the Heisman Trophy is,’ Brent Key says
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key is all-in on quarterback Haynes King being a viable choice to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy.
“This is a kid that truly epitomizes what the Heisman Trophy is,” Key said Monday on SiriusXM radio. “Who in college football elevates their team the way Haynes King does Georgia Tech? I would like to know that.”
King is 33-for-48 passing for 354 yards and an interception and has 259 yards rushing on 44 carries with four touchdowns in two games this season (he missed the Sept. 6 game against Gardner-Webb with a lower-body injury). Those numbers may not be gaudy enough (yet) for King to be included among players vying for the award handed out to college football’s best player each year, but King’s style of play, leadership and intangibles hold weight, Key added.
King had a 45-yard, game-winning touchdown run at Colorado to begin the season Aug. 29. That was his third rushing touchdown of that game and his 156 yards on the ground against the Buffaloes set a career high.
On Saturday against Clemson, King threw for 211 yards and ran for 103 and a score. His 1-yard touchdown run less than five minutes into the fourth quarter, where he had to lower a shoulder to plow his way into the end zone, put Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) up 19-14. The senior from Texas then led the Yellow Jackets on the game-winning drive that ended with Aidan Birr’s 55-yard field goal as time expired.
Key said early in that drive, during a timeout, King came to the sideline and demanded the ball be put in his hands. After that timeout, King had a 9-yard run, 9-yard completion, 4-yard run, 3-yard run and 2-yard run, respectively, to put Tech in position to kick the game-winner.
“We’re gonna win the surest way,” Key added. “We’re gonna play the game to be able to play complementary football in all three phases and win football games. I don’t care about stats. I don’t care about scoreboard. I care about being one more than the opponent that we play. And he is the epitome of what this program is and what we are as a football team.”
The Heisman Trophy, named after one of Tech’s legendary coaches John Heisman, has never been given to a Tech player. Clint Castleberry (third, 1942), Eddie Prokop (fifth, 1943), Billy Lothridge (eighth in 1962 and second in 1963), Lenny Snow (14th, 1966), Eddie Lee Ivery (eighth, 1978), Joe Hamilton (second, 1999) and Calvin Johnson (10th in 2006) have all garnered serious consideration.
King is +4500 to win the award, according to FanDuel, making him a betting long shot. But the Jackets still have nine more games left on the schedule, starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday when they face Temple (2-1) at Bobby Dodd Stadium, for King to gain traction.
How King does Saturday, and going forward, could certainly strengthen the “King For Heisman” campaign.
“I can say this about him and him not get an inflated opinion of himself: Very rarely do you have a singular player, in the greatest team sport in the world, that commands the attention of the opposing defensive coordinator and head coach in a way like he does,” Key said. “This kid slept in the locker room for training camp for four weeks. You talk about having blinders on. The way he elevates our team, the way that our team believes in him. This is a team that four years ago the score was 73-7 here at Bobby Dodd Stadium against (Clemson).
“He wants the ball in his hands. He remembers that long, cold night over in Athens, Georgia, too, when he had the balls in the hands that last play (in a 44-42, eight-overtime loss to Georgia in November). He’s on a mission. He is on a mission.”
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