Brent Key embracing change (Athletic gift article)

[cpf2001]

Not sure what was going on with the OL. I've never seen a group be so consistently dominant between the 20's but so consistently not be able to get it done inside the 20's. It was Jekyll and Hyde stuff. Maybe it's as simple as we had our whole playbook open between the 20's and that selection narrowed to parts of it that we struggled to block inside the 20's. I don't think so, but maybe. All I know is I saw far too much of our OL owning DL in the middle of the field but not being able to move them in the RZ.

In reality... that was also the issue in the UGAg game in '24... we couldn't get any push in OT at the GL and it killed us.

The “other teams know our adjustments and calls” issue definitely goes back to 2024 - that Louisville pick six, for instance; or various other stuffed “and short” situations.

Alabama is not hiring any coach that can’t beat UGA. Key is a Tech lifer.

If I was them I wouldn’t worry too much about a coach losing close games to UGA with the recent GT talent differential… but I generally agree they wouldn’t hire Key at this point because they will want a proven complete package and won’t care about any existing GT recruiting hurdles or perceived hurdles.

If we want Key to beat UGA at anything like even a 50/50 rate we’re gonna need either continued up leveling of talent and depth OR for UGA to fall off a bit.

 

[Root4GT]

He specifically said he and other coaches were being being talked about for other programs and it was hard to keep everyone focused. That’s why he got really angry when Tech kept getting ranked higher than he thought they deserved. He saw big problems with the team but it was hard to get the players to see how much work was needed and to focus because certain coaches weren’t helping with their own attitudes. It was a very nuanced but thorough discussion by Key on what wrong with the season. He said a lot of you read it carefully.

My point is Key was one of the coaches constantly being talked about for other Schools as well.

Looking at our first 8 games it is pretty easy to see GT had a number of issues. The defense was bad at all 3 levels. The OL struggled and the best part of the running game was the QB.

Toss in Duke and Wake were the best wins, there were reasons the team struggled more down the stretch playing better competition.

9 wins was a solid outcome for last year’s team. Getting to 9 wins again this year will be a good year with the coaching changes and lack of experience at many positions.

GT simply does not line up on many teams with an overwhelming talent advantage.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

My point is Key was one of the coaches constantly being talked about for other Schools as well.

Looking at our first 8 games it is pretty easy to see GT had a number of issues. The defense was bad at all 3 levels. The OL struggled and the best part of the running game was the QB.

Toss in Duke and Wake were the best wins, there were reasons the team struggled more down the stretch playing better competition.

9 wins was a solid outcome for last year’s team. Getting to 9 wins again this year will be a good year with the coaching changes and lack of experience at many positions.

GT simply does not line up on many teams with an overwhelming talent advantage.

Totally agree. The thing that gives me optimism is that you could replace your above post with any of our opponents outside of UGA. I don’t see any team outside of UGA that has a talent advantage over us. Colorado just lost half their team. Tennessee is breaking in a new QB and aren’t world beaters any more. Mercer/Stanford/Duke should be three double digit wins. VT a lot of incoming talent from PSU and at their place so gonna be a test for Key. BC is always well coached but I like our talent over theirs. Pitt is our nemesis lately but they have defensive questions like we do. Louisville, Clemson, and Wake will all be awesome tests as they are all well coached and have some players. By those games all teams should have things figured out so they should be fun entertaining games. I’m glad we have Birr for that stretch. By the last game maybe UGA mails it in and rests everyone since a top seed should already be locked in.

 

[Oakland]

Good article, but I think the author doesn't know a lot about GT football.

 

[jojatk]

First let me say I am a Brent Key fan and I hope he’s the right guy. He is still learning and growing and one thing I really like about him is he’s not afraid to make changes when they are needed. And he’s not afraid to admit he needs to learn from the mistakes of last season. I respect those qualities. I hope he has made a lot of good changes and we shall see.

However, “I never felt we were as good as people externally said we were. I never felt that,”. That’s an excuse for the failures. And bully for Brent that he got to be right about it. Congrats. NCSU was a pretty bad game and I think a lot of you here and on other forums saw that one coming a mile away. BC and Pitt, on the other hand, are the games where you just have to shake your head and say WTF happened and why do we continue to have 1-2 games every year where the team just doesn’t show up. BC was bad and even as bad as we played we still found a way to win so that was great. But the atmosphere for the Pitt game was electric. The night was perfect. The fans showed up and showed out to celebrate the team. And the team came out flatter than a pancake. They made a game of it but there’s really no excuse for how they stepped onto the field for that game.

With all that having been said. It’s in the past and Brent made a lot of changes and I’m excited to see how they work out. Hopefully we get back on track to improvement that got a bit derailed as the season wore on. I’ll be cheering for the team.

 

[stinger78]

If we want Key to beat UGA at anything like even a 50/50 rate we’re gonna need either continued up leveling of talent and depth OR for UGA to fall off a bit.

We haven’t beaten UGAg 50/50+ in any decade since the 1950’s during Dodd’s heyday, before I was even born. That’s a stinking long time!

That said, we were 5-5 against them from 1961-70, and 4-6 against them from 1968-77 and 1984-93. Had CCG beaten them just once we could have won 4 between 1998-2007, and CPJ came whisker close beating them 3x while losing very close games in 2009, 10, 13, and 17, but all his wins were close as well so that evens out over time.

 

[D1Guru#43]

Hopefully, the corrections have been made that will make us better. Prayerfully, the new coaches and Brent Key will stay focused on the task at hand which is to coach up and develop our team. Can't have coaches looking out the front door chasing opportunities. Do the job that you have well and the opportunities will come. Be present and stay present.

Without Haynes King we would have been 5-7 at best. He made our offensive coaches look BETTER than they were against inferior opponents. The head coach, Brent Key, can not make excuses about them not being as good as people thought they were when he is in charge of fixing it. I never saw the improvement or fixes needed on either side of the ball. Hell, the DC leaving was a blessing! He was in way over his head! Good riddance.

I look forward to the new season and actually seeing some toughness displayed by this group of young men. Brent Key claims toughness is a pillar of the program and I haven't seen it. We had better be much more physical on defense as well. We had kids playing defense who wouldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.

No excuses. Football is a performance game. Every snap you must do your job. Are you willing to match your opponents ferocity? Can you match it, overwhelm him and impose your will on him? That's what winning football looks like. No excuses. This will be Brent Key's defining season. How do you come back from a total end of season implosion? I will be cheering the Jackets on every snap of the way to redemption!

 

[GT1977!]

First let me say I am a Brent Key fan and I hope he’s the right guy. He is still learning and growing and one thing I really like about him is he’s not afraid to make changes when they are needed. And he’s not afraid to admit he needs to learn from the mistakes of last season. I respect those qualities. I hope he has made a lot of good changes and we shall see.

However, “I never felt we were as good as people externally said we were. I never felt that,”. That’s an excuse for the failures. And bully for Brent that he got to be right about it. Congrats. NCSU was a pretty bad game and I think a lot of you here and on other forums saw that one coming a mile away. BC and Pitt, on the other hand, are the games where you just have to shake your head and say WTF happened and why do we continue to have 1-2 games every year where the team just doesn’t show up. BC was bad and even as bad as we played we still found a way to win so that was great. But the atmosphere for the Pitt game was electric. The night was perfect. The fans showed up and showed out to celebrate the team. And the team came out flatter than a pancake. They made a game of it but there’s really no excuse for how they stepped onto the field for that game.

With all that having been said. It’s in the past and Brent made a lot of changes and I’m excited to see how they work out. Hopefully we get back on track to improvement that got a bit derailed as the season wore on. I’ll be cheering for the team.

"But the atmosphere for the Pitt game was electric. The night was perfect. The fans showed up and showed out to celebrate the team. And the team came out flatter than a pancake."
Came down for my one game per year. I have NEVER seen GT fans this "electric"....
The atmosphere from the top of the hill in front of library to the entrance to West stands the last 30 mins before game time was unlike anything I've ever seen.....
Pepper used to say, "Everyone is excited and fired up for Georgia game. My job is to get our guys ready to play Tulane."
Brent failed to do this vs Pitt.

 

[iceeater1969]

"But the atmosphere for the Pitt game was electric. The night was perfect. The fans showed up and showed out to celebrate the team. And the team came out flatter than a pancake."
Came down for my one game per year. I have NEVER seen GT fans this "electric"....
The atmosphere from the top of the hill in front of library to the entrance to West stands the last 30 mins before game time was unlike anything I've ever seen.....
Pepper used to say, "Everyone is excited and fired up for Georgia game. My job is to get our guys ready to play Tulane."
Brent failed to do this vs Pitt.

Can't believe our defense couldn't stop them in first half.

Key has acted like he has no responsibility for making in game adjustments when wtf is going on. He seems to take notes on what he sees wrong so he can tell the coaches in private on Monday.

I hope we see him talking to someone during the game.

I have a sinking feeling he is all in on riding efford at lb as the savior on defense.

 

[GT1977!]

Effords is great Tech man. He is not great LB. Not fast enough to cover… or to close. If we are depending upon Kyle to save our defense, we are dead… i actually am optimistic that several of our defensive mercenaries may step up
We are not gonna score 40 per game in ‘26…

 

[bke1984]

Effords is great Tech man. He is not great LB. Not fast enough to cover… or to close. If we are depending upon Kyle to save our defense, we are dead… i actually am optimistic that several of our defensive mercenaries may step up
We are not gonna score 40 per game in ‘26…

He’s not going to excel in coverage. But it doesn’t mean he can’t be a stud in college. Gideon did not play to Efford’s strengths. I think you’ll be surprised how much better he looks under Semore.

 

[jojatk]

He’s not going to excel in coverage. But it doesn’t mean he can’t be a stud in college. Gideon did not play to Efford’s strengths. I think you’ll be surprised how much better he looks under Semore.

I think you're right about this. Kyle did not forget how to play football last year. And just to be clear neither you nor I, I think, are indicating that Kyle is a GREAT LB nor are we depending on him to save the defense. But he's better than he played last year and his value to our defense 2 seasons ago was, IMHO, less his performance on the field (though that was very good) and more what he did before the play to get everyone lined up in the right place more often than not.

 

[stinger78]

He’s not going to excel in coverage. But it doesn’t mean he can’t be a stud in college. Gideon did not play to Efford’s strengths. I think you’ll be surprised how much better he looks under Semore.

Yes. Efford hits hard and is tenacious at the POA. He’s pretty good at plugging gaps, though he can get washed out sometimes due to his smaller size, and he struggles in pass coverage. He’s not the biggest or fastest, but he can play if a DC/LB coach will not make him use skills he doesn’t possess. What I see from Kyle is max effort all the time, and that will get you playing time on most football teams.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yes. Efford hits hard and is tenacious at the POA. He’s pretty good at plugging gaps, though he can get washed out sometimes due to his smaller size, and he struggles in pass coverage. He’s not the biggest or fastest, but he can play if a DC/LB coach will not make him use skills he doesn’t possess. What I see from Kyle is max effort all the time, and that will get you playing time on most football teams.

I could see him playing middle LB in a 3-3-5 defense. Obviously that assumes some quality on the front 3.

 

[stinger78]

I could see him playing middle LB in a 3-3-5 defense. Obviously that assumes some quality on the front 3.

Mike LB in a system that doesn't require coverage from him.

 

[iceeater1969]

Mike LB in a system that doesn't require coverage from him.

Strength up the middle has changed from Butkus Brutus to guy who is in ready position, quicly reads , immediately slides, then runs to contact. Efford has been a statue who eventually runs near the point of attack.
He is a favorite and we can be sure he will be the starter. Maybe Key's 5th DC can coach him up. He fixed the worst punt team in a day.

 

[stinger78]

Strength up the middle has changed from Butkus Brutus to guy who is in ready position, quicly reads , immediately slides, then runs to contact. Efford has been a statue who eventually runs near the point of attack.
He is a favorite and we can be sure he will be the starter. Maybe Key's 5th DC can coach him up. He fixed the worst punt team in a day.

I think you guys sell him way too short. He's a favorite because he hustles and makes plays. No, he's not the biggest or fastest, but he plays hard and makes tackles. He's 255 lbs. and runs a 4.8 40. Neither will get him drafted at the Mike position, but in three seasons, he's made 223 tackles,103 solo, and he has 5.5 sacks. That speaks.

Who else would you have played in his place?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Strength up the middle has changed from Butkus Brutus to guy who is in ready position, quicly reads , immediately slides, then runs to contact. Efford has been a statue who eventually runs near the point of attack.
He is a favorite and we can be sure he will be the starter. Maybe Key's 5th DC can coach him up. He fixed the worst punt team in a day.

Compare last year’s play to the previous year’s play. What changed? Some of us have theories.

 

[TechPhi97]

He’s not going to excel in coverage. But it doesn’t mean he can’t be a stud in college. Gideon did not play to Efford’s strengths. I think you’ll be surprised how much better he looks under Semore.

This is clear — I watch most games at home and it was a constant refrain from announcers last year. In that scheme Efford was easy to exploit in the passing game. We gave up so many throws between the LBs and DBs last year and never corrected it.

 

[stinger78]

I think you guys sell him way too short. He's a favorite because he hustles and makes plays. No, he's not the biggest or fastest, but he plays hard and makes tackles. He's 255 lbs. and runs a 4.8 40. Neither will get him drafted at the Mike position, but in three seasons, he's made 223 tackles,103 solo, and he has 5.5 sacks. That speaks.

Who else would you have played in his place?

Sorry, typo. 225 lbs.