After first loss, Brent Key says there is ‘some pressure lifted off’ Tech
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key thinks his team may have been trying to do too much Saturday in what became a 48-36 loss at North Carolina State.
“As you win more and more, and it’s not a familiar territory that you’ve been in, guys start to press. ‘I don’t wanna mess this up,’ or, ‘I don’t wanna do this because I don’t wanna let the team down.’ It comes from a good place,” Key said Monday on radio station 680 The Fan. “It’s one of those things that’s hard to understand in these positions. The guys don’t wanna let other people down.
“More failures in life come from trying to take it easy and trying not to make a mistake than just going and doing what you’ve done. We talked about that last week. Obviously, that message was not taken.”
Tech, now ranked 16th in the latest Associated Press Top 25, had a chance to move to 9-0, inch closer to an ACC title game berth and increase the odds of qualifying for the College Football Playoff by beating N.C. State. Instead, the loss to the Wolfpack brought the Yellow Jackets (8-1, 5-1 ACC) crashing to earth and created a new reality that the team’s margin for error will be only that much thinner moving forward.
But, Key hinted, as Tech goes into and then out of a bye weekend before playing at Boston College on Nov. 15, perhaps the next time the Jackets take the field they will be a much looser bunch.
“I would dare say there’s some pressure lifted off of a lot of guys in our building right now,” Key said. “The pressure is a privilege, but controlling it and dealing with it, I’m sure there’s some guys that feel a little bit of the pressure off of ‘em on the team.”
Key spoke at the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham, Alabama, the sixth coach to speak at the event since September. Former Alabama Birmingham coach Trent Dilfer, Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, former Alabama coach Nick Saban, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea and former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher have appeared at the event.
On Tuesday, Key and the Jackets returned to practice, one of three scheduled workouts this week before taking the weekend off. Key said the practice sessions will focus on self-improvement as well as development for the younger players on the roster. Tech will resume its regular schedule Sunday as it begins preparation for Boston College (1-8, 0-5 ACC).
The week ahead will have a different feel, it being be the first this season that the Jackets will be asked to respond after a defeat.
“I don’t know if you find out more about your team after a loss. I think you have a lot more people listen to you after a loss,” Key said. “When you say these things, everyone tends to have deaf ears, or, ‘Oh he’s just saying that to be hard,’ whether it’s media or the staff or the players. Well, when you lose a game, everyone wants to hear it. Everyone wants direction. Everybody wants to be led.
“I think that’s more likely, that people will hear what you’re saying, that people will hear the message more clearly.”
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