Brent Key digs for answers after Georgia Tech football’s ‘disaster’

Brent Key said he often watched his players from the sideline at Bobby Dodd Stadium during the loss to Boston College — what he called “this disaster that took place on Saturday” — to see how they would respond.

Key, in his fourth full season as Georgia Tech coach, said he didn’t see players quit. They continued to give effort during a 49-27 loss in which the Eagles ran for 399 yards and attempted just three passes in the second half.

Instead, Key said he saw players asking for answers.

“There’s like a ‘help me’ type of thing,” Key said. “Not a ‘screw this.’ Two totally different things there.

“I have no doubt in my mind where the team stands. But let’s be honest, guys, we’ve got to play better football. Let’s be real. Let’s be real, OK.”

The “disaster,” according to Key, could be explained two ways. Either players were in position and failed to execute, or players were not put in position to execute. The former falls on the players. The latter falls on the coaches.

Key said he told his team after reviewing the game that he saw plenty of examples of both.

“No one in the entire room, beginning with me, is absent of responsibility,” he said. “No one.”

The expectations surrounding Key’s program changed last season.

The Yellow Jackets began 2025 with eight straight victories and were in position to play for the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff.

Losses in four of the final five games spoiled those opportunities, but the strong start elevated what was possible for Key’s program.

Key signed a contract extension last December. He hired two new coordinators and brought in transfers, including Indiana quarterback Alberto Mendoza and Michigan running back Justice Haynes.

This season has gone anything but according to plan.

Tech is 2-5, including losses to Colorado (also 2-5) and to Stanford and Boston College, two teams picked during the preseason to finish at the bottom of the ACC.

Inconsistency has taken different forms. The Jackets have led five games at halftime and lost three. They were blown out in the first half at Virginia Tech and fell apart in the second half against Boston College.

So no, Key said, there isn’t simply one thing to fix. And there will be no public announcement this week about changes to his staff.

Instead, Key said he is evaluating the program from its overall structure down to the details of what is emphasized during practice.

“You can sit there and be pissed and continue to spin in a circle, or you can dig in and find the right things that have to be adjusted, have to be corrected, have to be changed, have to be fixed. And you have to be careful, too, that you’re not just making changes for the sake of making a change and it not be the correct thing.”

Key himself called Tech’s fall in the past 12 months “bewildering,” immediately after the Boston College loss.

Perhaps most bewildering is where the Jackets have struggled most.

They rank 113th (of 138 teams) in rushing offense at 123 yards per game. They’re 131st in rushing defense, allowing 210 yards per game.

The inability to consistently run or stop the run has affected everything from field position and time of possession to third-down situations.

“At the end of the day, those are two of the principles that I had this program to be built on,” Key said. “Really run the ball and stop the run. Look, when you can’t do those things, it changes big time how you play the game. Big time.”

Injuries have played a role. Tech’s offensive and defensive lines and the secondary have been disrupted by starters and key contributors being sidelined.

Still, Key has repeated that the answers come down to two areas: players that are put in position by coaches and that execute on the field.

“There’s no one in here that says injuries are the reason why, right,” Key said. “Are they a part of things? Yeah. You lose games and say, ‘Man, wish we didn’t have so many people hurt, we would have won.’ No, that’s not a way of doing things. That’s not the way it happens.”

Tech has five games remaining, beginning Saturday at Pitt. To reach a bowl game, the Jackets would need to win four of them.

Key didn’t offer specific changes Tuesday that he said will reverse the season. He said the evaluation of everything from personnel and scheme to practice structure and coaching responsibilities is ongoing.

But he was clear about what he said will guide those decisions.