Georgia Tech helmets to display gold, white Celtic knot for Ireland game

DUBLIN — In an understated but visible display, Georgia Tech will seek to honor host-country Ireland for Saturday’s game against Florida State by using a gold and white Celtic knot on the helmet stripe down the middle of the helmet.

Coach Brent Key revealed the look at his news conference Thursday at Aviva Stadium. The decal is laid on the Yellow Jackets’ white helmet. Last year, the front-to-back decal for the white helmet was one gold stripe bordered by two blue stripes except for the bowl game, when it was gold-white-gold.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to come here, have a chance to compete on Saturday, in a wonderful city and a wonderful country,” Key said.

In 2022, Northwestern made a similar gesture with its helmets when it played Nebraska in Dublin, adding orange and green stripes to the stylized white “N” on its purple to resemble Ireland’s flag.

Tech (and Florida State) will have the chance to make a bigger imprint on Irish citizens than previous iterations of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The game will be broadcast live on free-to-air television in Ireland for the first time in the game’s history. Eight FBS games have been played here previously.

Undoubtedly, the involvement of Tech punter David Shanahan, who was born and raised in Ireland, will draw extra local attention to the game. Shanahan also spoke at the news conference and fielded a number of questions from Irish media about his history and thoughts about playing in his home country.