What Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said at ACC Kickoff
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Georgia Tech coach Brent Key discussed the state of his team and its outlook for the upcoming season during the ACC Kickoff media availability Thursday.
Here are some highlights from topics Key addressed (some answers came during his period with reporters before taking the podium):
On new quarterback Alberto Mendoza and how he’s settled in:
“He’s smart, cerebral. Sees the whole field, can get us in and out of good plays, bad plays. He’s accurate, has a good release. Mom and dad are great people.”
On depth and development in the secondary:
“I think our depth is pretty good, best it’s been in four years, I can tell you that. … My belief is you take the best five and you get them in the game. Then take the next six, seven, eight and have them ready to go in.”
Key admitted he felt the team “didn’t do the best job” preparing its players lower on the depth chart last year. “I’m not saying anything off the rip — I think we’ve done a much better job of developing these guys from January to now."
On embracing the sport’s evolving landscape:
“What else am I going to do? Seriously. Am I going to object to it? No, I don’t want to do that. I don’t have a say in it. We could walk out of here and have three different rules or a change in something. You have to be adaptable. You have to be able to change.
People say, ‘Oh, you know, kids are different now.’ Well, so are the adults. We are too. We’re the ones that set the example, but the same guys that want to complain about a lot of the things in college football need to look themselves in the mirror. They’re the ones jumping jobs every two years, too. Let’s be real. The adults in the room sometimes end up being the bigger problem.
I’m very transparent with my team about that. We talk very real in terms of that. Look, we’re co-workers. This is no dictatorship at Georgia Tech. I’m the head coach, I’m the leader, yes, but we have to work together, and they understand that. It’s about the players at Georgia Tech. Always has been and always will be as long as I’m the head football coach there.”
On acquiring running back Justice Haynes in the transfer portal:
“He went in the portal. I think we called him. Look, no different than anybody else. It’s recruiting. It’s relationships. We’ve got two running backs here with us today (including Malachi Hosley), and I think we have, what, four more back at home we couldn’t fit on the plane with us, if that tells you what type of team we’re going to be. They all complement each other very well.
Excited to finally have Justice understand that Atlanta, Georgia, is the greatest city on the face of the earth and to be there. I’m super excited about that entire group.
When you have a new quarterback — and look, quarterback is the most important position, in my opinion, in all of sports. How do you take the pressure off of him? (Key gestures to his running backs.) That’s how you take the pressure off of him, allow him to develop and grow as a quarterback. Doesn’t matter how talented you are. There’s firsts in everything at that position. That’s on us as coaches to make sure we don’t put him in a position to have to win every game all year long, right? Let him grow into that.
Very, very fortunate to be able to have these running backs with us on our team, the depth we have at that position, the unselfishness that they have. But also, we have a lot of experience on our offensive staff and within the whole staff of how to play these guys, how to practice these guys, how to train them, how to prepare them so that they’re just as fresh in the fourth quarter in November as they were in the first quarter in September.”
How the 5-for-5 eligibility rule affects roster building:
“It’s real, it’s here, we don’t know how that’s going to change. I won’t try to predict or forecast it. I have my own thoughts on it, some of it is kind of basic trade secrets and whatnot on how it is. But best way to say it is we all learn supply and demand in seventh grade, right? When there’s less supply, there’s more demand and it costs more, doesn’t it? You get five years to play, only one time to transfer, do the math.
Now, you start looking at a different scale, the cost of retention, the cost of acquisition, the cost of all those things — those are things we have to look at and try to project out. You have to make projections and what the stocks are going to do and whatnot. We’re dealing with people, developing young people. There’s a big difference between being 17, 18 and 19 and being 24, 25, 26. The model is similar, but the commodities we’re dealing with are very different in terms of development and your age, and the nature of when the Lord blessed us to develop.”