Now that the dust has settled and the reality of what’s at stake has set in, Georgia Tech has declared the next three weeks won’t be all fun and games. The Yellow Jackets say they are on a clear and unquestioned mission.
“We definitely want everybody to know that this is not a vacation,” Tech running back Jamal Haynes said. “We’re trying to go win the game, and we have to dial in, we have to focus, we have to be prepared to go play another team that’s also trying to have the same goal as us: win the bowl game.”
It has been five years since Tech has played in a bowl game, two more since the program won one. What once was commonplace for the Jackets (they played in 20 bowl games from 1997-2018) suddenly became unattainable from 2019-22 during the Geoff Collins Era.
Brent Key, in his first season at the helm of the program, nearly got Tech back to the postseason a year ago as the team’s interim coach before the Jackets fell a win short. This year’s squad needed 11 games to reach the required six wins to become eligible, but that sixth victory became a symbolic step that things are headed in the right direction after years of frustration.
Reaching a bowl game in 2023 has the Jackets clamoring for more success in the years to come.
“With going to a bowl game, obviously the expectations are definitely risen around here,” Haynes said. “We’re expected to go to a bowl game every year, from here on out, honestly. Just with going into this bowl game, we have to understand this is not our final destination. This is not our top goal.
“We want the ACC championship, we want to be in those playoffs. We have to understand this is just the beginning.”
Tech has only two players remaining on the current roster who were in the program the last time the Jackets were in a bowl game: safety Jaylon King and running back Dontae Smith. Neither were active for Tech’s 34-10 loss to Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit in 2018.
King and Smith stuck around after that loss, the final game of Tech coach Paul Johnson’s tenure, the coach who had recruited and signed the duo to wear white and gold. Both King and Smith battled through injuries, watched new teammates come and old teammates go, persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic and suffered through 32 losses in 46 games.
They returned for the 2023 season, holding out hope they could each be a part of the team that turned Tech’s fortunes in the right direction. Playing in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 22 against Central Florida will somewhat vindicate that decision.
“I feel like everyone in the program actually has a belief to win now,” King said. “I feel like Key brought that to this program with his coaching staff and what he believes. I feel like years past, we was out there playing not to lose, not actually out there thinking we’re going to win that game or had a chance to win that game. I felt the success that we had this year, people are going to actually believe and buy in to, ‘We can win.’
“Games that we lost, we lost in the fourth quarter. We was always competitive for the most part. Once we lock into the small details and fix those, I feel like this will be a nine-win team each year – at the minimum.”
Nine wins may seem like a bit of a stretch for Tech – it hasn’t reached that mark since the 2016 team went 9-4. The Jackets also have a daunting 2024 schedule that includes defending ACC champion Florida State, ACC runner-up Louisville, Georgia, Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Miami and North Carolina. Tech has only five home games next season and plays 11 teams that made a bowl this season.
But Key is expected to have the bulk of his offense back, including Haynes, star quarterback Haynes King, all four top receivers and four of the five starting linemen. Improvement in talent and depth on the defense will be imperative if Tech is to take the next step.
Until then, however, the Jackets have one box to check in 2023 before setting their sights on bigger things in 2024.
“The bowl game is good. Yeah, that’s great. But the team expectation is the 12-team playoff next year. We win games, we’ll be there,” Tech defensive end Eddie Kelly said. “That’s our expectation as a team. Our expectation is to win an ACC championship. We got really high expectations. I wish y’all could come in and see the team, how it is. I promise you, this is a great program.”
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