Brent Key, George Godsey reunited at Georgia Tech. Now comes the hard part.

Brent Key and George Godsey spent nearly 30 years getting to this point.

They were teammates at Georgia Tech. Roommates, too. They coached together before Godsey moved to the NFL, where he spent 15 years, while Key eventually took over the program at their alma mater.

Their families vacationed with each other, and through it all the two friends never stopped talking football. This offseason, they reunited when Key hired Godsey as Tech’s offensive coordinator.

And their first game together did not go as planned.

Tech rushed for just 51 yards and failed to score an offensive touchdown in a 14-13 loss to Colorado.

Now comes the part that matters: figuring out what went wrong and fixing it ahead of a matchup with No. 20 Tennessee Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“Those hard conversations are easier to have when you have a relationship or history together,” Godsey said before last week’s season opener.

They met in 1997, when Key, then a freshman offensive lineman, hosted Godsey, a quarterback, on his Tech recruiting visit. The friendship started quickly.

Key grew up near Birmingham. Godsey’s parents attended the University of Alabama.

“There’s an instant connection with that in the background,” Godsey said. “We kind of hit it off from there.”

They were on teams together that beat Georgia three times and finished in the Associated Press Top 25 each season. Godsey was an All-American and Key was named All-ACC in 2000.

They helped establish one of Tech’s most successful eras, a level they’re now working to restore.

“At the end of the day, friends, not friends, me and George are 100% aligned on one thing — that’s winning at Georgia Tech,” Key said. “Have the best players we can possibly get, play the best football we can possibly play unselfishly, in order to win a football game.”

Their friendship eventually became a working relationship, too.

Key and Godsey spent years together early in their coaching careers at UCF on staff for their former Tech coach George O’Leary.

Godsey headed to the NFL in 2011, spending time with the Patriots, Texans, Lions, Dolphins and Ravens. While Key remained in the college ranks, including for two years at Alabama, the two spoke on the phone every week, often daily.

“Probably the coolest thing about it has been, he sees the game the way I do,” Key said. “I see the game the way he does.

“You spent endless, endless hours and long, long nights talking about all the different scenarios because of our friendship. What if this happens? What about when this happens? How are we going to handle this? How are we going to deal with this?”

Last season the Jackets finished 9-4 with an offense that featured the ACC Player of the Year in quarterback Haynes King and offensive guard Keylan Rutledge, a first-round NFL draft pick.

Coordinator Buster Faulkner left for Florida, joined by quarterback Aaron Philo and other players who transferred.

Key hired Godsey to run the offense and worked the transfer portal to bring in new starters, including quarterback Alberto Mendoza from Indiana, running back Justice Haynes from Michigan, offensive lineman Joseph Ionata from Alabama and a trio of tight ends.

The overhauled offense helped make the Jackets 6.5-point favorites against Colorado.

Instead, the offensive line struggled, Mendoza was sacked three times, and Tech averaged just over 3 yards per carry (not counting yards lost on sacks). The Jackets drove inside the Colorado 30 four times and scored just six offensive points.

“That’s probably the best thing to come out of this is that it is the first game of the year,” Key said. “The saying (is) don’t waste a failure. So, we failed. We failed across the board, and we’ll start first thing (after the game) on continuing to work to correct those things and make a lot of improvement by next Saturday.”

They’re preparing for Tennessee, which defeated Furman 56-9 to open its season. The Volunteers run an up-tempo offense, and their defense will likely be one of the best Tech faces this year.