Georgia Tech interim coach Brent Key spoke with the media Tuesday morning at a news conference at Tech. Key is replacing former coach Geoff Collins, who was relieved of his duties Monday by Tech President Angel Cabrera after the Yellow Jackets’ 1-3 start to the season.
Here is a portion of what Key had to say (some answers were edited for brevity):
Opening remarks:
Obviously just came straight off the practice field just up here, so my voice is a little hoarse. I’m honored and proud to take the responsibility of leading this football program for the next eight games. It’s something that I take very seriously as an alum and a former football player at Georgia Tech. I’m thankful for the responsibility, but at the same time, it’s a bittersweet time with what has happened the last couple days, with coach Collins and (athletic director) Todd (Stansbury, who also was fired).
Both of them are people I’ve known for a long time and gave me a chance to come home and be here at Georgia Tech, but that being said, we have to move forward. We have a game to play this Saturday. This is about doing what’s best for the players.
As these things were going on yesterday, first thing we did was we went upstairs and hunkered down for probably two and a half hours of special-teams meetings. I would like to go ahead and announce that Jason Semore has been promoted from not only linebackers coach but to special-teams coordinator. So he will be running special teams along with everyone else on the staff immediately working to fix the issues we’ve had.
Our goal is to go out and play the best brand of football we possibly can.
Credit: Sarah K. Spencer/AJC
Q: Talking about bittersweet, you’re trying to press forward but there are probably a lot of people standing up saying, “what happened”? How’s it been to go through these past few days in the meetings, the kind of things that have been bubbling around the problem and dealing with that trying to push forward?
A: Yeah. It’s coaches, myself. If you eliminate yourself from the external distractions, it’s a lot of focus on what you have to do. And to eliminate those external distractions throughout the day.
It’s easy for us as coaches to talk about that and to do that more than for the players. So, then it becomes a little frustrating knowing the players are hearing things, even though we’re trying to avoid and stay focused on the task at hand. So, things have happened.
There’s a reason why the president prepared the decisions he made, and now my job is to have everyone move forward, and we don’t have time to continue to look in the past. We have a job to do. Our job and I, our coaches, and our players take very seriously; we have to press on.
Q: How in this new role can you help this team get the season turned around because they can still qualify for a bowl game, and do you consider this kind of a tryout for the next full-time coach position?
A: First question, we have to work with what we have to work with right now. We have to make sure our players are playing free and simple every Saturday and fix what has plagued us in games over and over. We want these guys to be able to go out and play as fast as they possibly can, so we have to simplify things. And comes with practice. Obviously, we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday so they gain confidence and practice like they are going to have success on Saturday.
(The answer to) the second question is as a Georgia Tech alumnus and as a football player, I believe this is the greatest job in the world. We have eight games to be able to put our coaching staff in the best positions for jobs, but it is not about me or the coaches, it is about the players. It is not about going to get a job. It is about the job we have, the job we have take very seriously.
Q: What makes Georgia Tech a great job to have?
A: Well, it’s one of the rare places in the country that you can combine the academic degree and the success that comes after that for the life of football along with the ability to play. Together, you do have a recipe here -- location, education and sport.
So those are really factors that kids look at when they’re looking to make decisions in recruiting. Location is what it is. It’s a destination location in the Southeast. Academics history speaks for itself. And then it’s going to be up to the football program put itself in the same light the same level. So now we have a three-headed monster to boot.
Q: I’m just curious. This is the first time you’ve been in this position. Did you seek any advice from anybody else who’s ever been a head coach? Because, obviously, it’s a difficult situation to step into, especially this part of the season.
A: I’ve been very, very lucky in my career to work for some outstanding head coaches. And I’m very fortunate to have them reach out to me -- as well as allowing me to reach out to them seeking advice. Very, very good advice that I’ve taken.
Q: How did you learn Geoff had been dismissed, and how did you learn you were coming into this role?
A: Well, obviously, something was wrong. We were in the office game-planning for Pitt, and we get a flood of text messages come through at one time, and everybody’s phone was buzzing. That meant something’s going on, but we did not know officially until yesterday.
Q: Do you address with your coaches the reality of the future being uncertain? Also, what do you tell your recruits?
A: Yes, we do. They are grown men and we gotta be professional. This is the reality of this business. At the same time, the job we do the next 10 weeks will help where everyone goes at the end of this. With recruits, it’s honesty .... spent a large part of yesterday talking to all the commits telling them exactly what’s going on, exactly where we’re at.
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