Georgia Tech’s Brent Key enjoys ‘inexact science’ of the transfer portal

Alberto Mendoza expected some adjustments when he transferred from Indiana to Georgia Tech.

A new offense. New coaching staff. New teammates.

But even a Miami native wasn’t ready for the weather after two years spent up north.

“The Georgia heat was hot,” Mendoza said. “I think it was like 140 degrees on the turf.”

Chris Corbo, who transferred from Dartmouth, had a similar experience. The senior tight end was accustomed to preseason practices in New Hampshire in the upper 60s and low 70s.

“The humidity took a week or two to get used to,” Corbo said.

Such is life for college football transfers. For Tech coach Brent Key, helping those players adjust is only part of a much broader challenge: figuring out which ones belong at Tech in the first place.

In an era when the transfer portal has become one of the most frequently criticized parts of college football, Key speaks positively about building a roster through it.

“It’s allowed Georgia Tech to be in the position we’re in now,” he said. “You’re able to find your own type of advantage at the school you’re at, with the players you have and the way you build your roster. That’s the mental part of being a head coach that I really enjoy.”

The results of that approach will be tested this season.

Tech added 19 transfers this offseason, several of whom are expected to play significant roles when the Yellow Jackets open the season Sept. 3 against Colorado at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Mendoza is expected to take over at quarterback for 2025 ACC Player of the Year Haynes King.

Michigan transfer Justice Haynes joined an already deep running back group.

Former Rutgers defensive end Jordan Walker was named a Jackets team captain during camp this month. He’s part of a revamped defense under first-year coordinator Jason Semore that also includes former Alabama players Noah Carter and Jaylen Mbakwe and Colorado transfer Tawfiq Thomas.

At tight end, Dartmouth transfer Corbo, Yale transfer Spencer Mermans and New Mexico State transfer Gavin Harris give new offensive coordinator George Godsey a group with varied skill sets.

Former Elon wide receiver Isaiah Fuhrmann has emerged this month at a position that didn’t return much production from last season.

For Mendoza, the summer was an important part of making the transition. He and his new teammates spent time together on the field, throwing and working out, and off it, hanging out and getting to know one another.

“Especially transferring, it’s tough,” Mendoza said. “You’re coming into a new place. You don’t know a lot of people and it’s tough to build those relationships. So the summer was really huge for the whole team.”

Transfers aren’t simply additions to the roster. They are players Key says fit what Tech needs.

That distinction is important to how he approaches the portal.

“It’s such an inexact science with the transfer portal because you have such a small, small window to make decisions on guys,” Key said.

So the Yellow Jackets try to make the roughly two-week window in January count.

They talk to high school and former coaches, teammates and other people who know the player. They ask about his competitiveness, character and intelligence. When possible, they meet his parents and learn about the values and makeup of his family.

“You have to ask the right questions,” Key said. “You have to ask the harder questions. You have to call as many people, talk to as many people as you can.”

The process goes both ways.

A player is evaluating Tech just as the Jackets are evaluating him. Key said the staff can spend days fighting to get a player to visit campus, then have roughly 24 hours to determine whether he belongs there.

And sometimes the answer is no.

“They might be a great player,” Key said. “They might be a great talent, but they don’t fit what we’re looking for at that position.”

That equation works in both directions.

Tech is adding players from other programs while watching some of its own players leave for opportunities elsewhere.

Former Tech quarterback Aaron Philo was named Florida’s starter earlier this week, while former Jackets wide receiver Isiah Canion is expected to contribute at Georgia.

That, too, is part of the reality Key has embraced.

The transfer portal gives coaches like Key a chance to reshape their rosters quickly. It also means those rosters are never entirely settled.