Georgia Tech’s Brent Key: ‘Slice me open and see what colors I bleed’
It’s a bye week, Georgia Tech is 8-1 and No. 17 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and rumors of Tech coach Brent Key being a candidate for open jobs elsewhere continue to swirl around the dark web.
Founded in truth or not, Key, because of his success in transforming the Yellow Jackets from a 14-12 team the previous two seasons to one fighting for an ACC championship game berth and inclusion in the 12-team playoff field, is a popular choice for message board fodder and sports talk show banter.
On Thursday, Key said he and those inside Bobby Dodd Stadium scoff at such rumors.
“We laugh about it. We do. It’s flattering. Great. It’s awesome guys. You’re gonna hear it,” Key said. “Guess what? I went and spoke in Birmingham on Monday. Me and our deputy AD (Brent Jones) went to Birmingham and I spoke at the (Monday Morning) Quarterback Club. That’s the probably other 50% that I was talking about, right? The unnamed sources, or rumors, or those things.
“It’s flattering. Probably a good idea to ask the team. Ask my wife. Ask my daughter. C’mon, now. I appreciate y’all asking though. I appreciate y’all asking those hard, jabbing questions”
Key’s current team is off this weekend. It practiced Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and will return to campus Sunday to begin preparing for a Nov. 15 game at Boston College (1-8, 0-5 ACC). Key, 47, is in the third year of a contract signed in 2022 and extended in December through the end of 2029.
The former Tech offensive lineman is making a salary of $4.1 million which increases by $100,000 each year through 2029. Key has qualified to make a $50,000 bonus for the Jackets achieving bowl eligibility and $100,000 for the Jackets reaching eight regular-season wins.
Key is 26-15 as Tech’s coach, and his next win will move him into the top 10 for career wins among former Tech coaches.
Because of those successes, places like LSU, Penn State, Auburn, Florida and Arkansas could radar in on Key to gauge his interest in leaving his alma mater for something new.
“It’s flattering, but not for me, it’s for this program,” Key said of his name being mentioned for some of those openings. “Since I came back here, since I was named the head coach here, outside of the time with my family, every waking second of my life has gone to building this program to get to the point that it is right now so that in turn we can continue three years from now, five years now, 10 years from now, continue to elevate this place, to be in that conversation. Not to be in there for two or three weeks, but to be a consistent team.
“Not when you lose one game people say, ‘Oh, the storybook’s over.’ Nah, it’s just beginning. I could go on and on, say, ‘Yes, no, maybe,’ all that crap. Slice me open and see what colors I bleed.”
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