Official: Brent Key is Georgia Tech Football's Head Coach

[BleedGoldNWhite21]

Showed Keys team intro to a buddy of mine "Chills. Even from a dawg fan." Was talking to the same guy Sunday at church and he asked if we were going to hire him(Key) or was "uga" gonna get to hire him?
I like having a coach mutt fans respect. Feels so good.

My parents are mutt fans and they both really like Key and told me they hoped he got the job for my sake as a fan lol

 

[TheTechGuy]

We aren’t comparing a guaranteed home run candidate here - If Fritz is probably 10% better, say, but at the cost of 20% more guaranteed dollars… that marginal dollar commitment may be a bigger risk in the short term than going for Key. We can’t afford to ignore downside risk like with Collins.

Now Batt’s job is to shore up the finances so that if we do end up doing this again in four years we have a better bank statement. And going with the more popular choice could make a big difference.

I presume my assessment of the downside risk differs. Where is the fan base if we go 4-8 next year after hiring the AHC who contributed to the worst stretch in Tech football history?

Key’s make or break year is immediate. It seemed everyone wanted to clean house post Miami, which was just a few weeks ago.

A rough 2023 season and this thing quickly turns ugly. That’s significant and immediate downside risk.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

To be completely transparent, Key was not my first choice. In fact, hiring him was one of the last options I wanted to see happen. I felt like we needed a fresh voice to lead the team into the future. However, I was excited to see what transpired with Key as interim head coach. The players obviously love him, and that goes a long way in todays landscape. I’ll support him 100%, and hope that he leads us to higher heights than we have seen in a while. Hopefully he is able to keep guys from entering the portal (please bring back Nate!), and really start finishing up this recruiting class. The next thing I’m looking toward is what he does with his staff. I’d love to see alot of turnover with the offensive staff, but I’m sure HCBK already has a list of names he wants to go after. Either way, great for Key, great for the kids and the excitement they showed when he was announced to them, and I can’t wait for fall of ‘23!

Great post. Pretty much how I feel. It’s great that players love Key, but long term, respect for the HC is most important. He will have to make a lot of tough decisions he’s never had to make. Truthfully, for those of us that believe in prayer, we should be praying for him and his family.

 

[Deleted member 6494]

Like the optimism for the last guy, the salesman?

I have worked in a lot of successful organizations. Special people working harder & smarter breed success, not unwarranted optimism.

I will be cautiously hopeful that Key can get great coaches hired to run the O. That should be his #1a priority followed closely by 1b. putting together an innovative recruiting plan.

My guess is the Cabal of the Key Club intimidated Batt into choosing Key; the Key Club members, including the big donors, would not agree to wash out Key from the team. It would be my guess the applicants would not go along with that and made it easy for the donors and Batt to push them out of the way to select Key.

I am sure the rest of the football world is laughing their rear off at Tech at this time. It is beyond comprehension that the main person on the staff (Offensive Line Coach) is selected as the new coach when his duty was the worst part of GT football during the Collin's tenure.

Instead of getting the blame for Collins failures, he is being positioned as the Head Coach. My grandchild could have done a better job. Batt miserably failed his first job at Tech and gave in to the intimidation to keep his job.

I have been through the good years of Tech football since the mid-forties, but the wiser people are no longer at Tech. I agree with many, it is time to move on.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

My guess is the Cabal of the Key Club intimidated Batt into choosing Key; the Key Club members, including the big donors, would not agree to wash out Key from the team. It would be my guess the applicants would not go along with that and made it easy for the donors and Batt to push them out of the way to select Key.

I am sure the rest of the football world is laughing their rear off at Tech at this time. It is beyond comprehension that the main person on the staff (Offensive Line Coach) is selected as the new coach when his duty was the worst part of GT football during the Collin's tenure.

Instead of getting the blame for Collins failures, he is being positioned as the Head Coach. My grandchild could have done a better job. Batt miserably failed his first job at Tech and gave in to the intimidation to keep his job.

I have been through the good years of Tech football since the mid-forties, but the wiser people are no longer at Tech. I agree with many, it is time to move on.

What I get a kick out of are our fans that hear from their UGAG friends that “we made the right choice” and “we like Key”, etc. They really believe that ugag fans want something good for us!! Like our phrase is THWG. They want us to always be nothing, trust me. They may pretend they want a competitive rival, but they don’t. They already have several with their SEC brothers.

A lot of these same fans could not handle the ribbing from these same people about our “high school offense”. It’s like they live their lives caring what gaggers think or say.

It is what it is, now. I’m hoping against hope that BK can miraculously take us to great heights.

 

[takethepoints]

I presume my assessment of the downside risk differs. Where is the fan base if we go 4-8 next year after hiring the AHC who contributed to the worst stretch in Tech football history?

Key’s make or break year is immediate. It seemed everyone wanted to clean house post Miami, which was just a few weeks ago.

A rough 2023 season and this thing quickly turns ugly. That’s significant and immediate downside risk.

I agree with all of this. I wanted Chadwell, but I'm content with Key. You are right, there is a considerable downside risk here, but so far, so good. If he can bring us to break even next season (6 - 6) I think most people will be more then content. I think that is within possibility, though graduation is going to hit us hard on D. There are other intangibles as well, especially how the money will be spent to improve the program.

But, while he wasn't my first choice, I don't feel that apprehensive with Key in charge. We'll have to see how it works out.

 

[cpf2001]

I presume my assessment of the downside risk differs. Where is the fan base if we go 4-8 next year after hiring the AHC who contributed to the worst stretch in Tech football history?

Key’s make or break year is immediate. It seemed everyone wanted to clean house post Miami, which was just a few weeks ago.

A rough 2023 season and this thing quickly turns ugly. That’s significant and immediate downside risk.

Yeah, there's no zero-downside-risk scenario. But there's a potentially ugly scenario like that for Fritz too:

* likely more transfers, possibly offsetting any presumed upside in coaching skills
* a probably-larger chunk of the fanbase (based on reactions here to this announcement and the would-be Fritz one) already out for blood
* more money owed Fritz if he can't turn it around, with a larger chunk of the fanbased "i told you so"-ing the decision and maybe giving less as a result

I also don't see Fritz as more than a +1 or +2 in next-few-years wins per year at most - he's done well in his career, he had a great year this year, but his background doesn't make me think he'd guarantee an immediate turnaround.

I don't think Key has more than 2 years before things would turn ugly, but if the contract is set up so that it's easier to get out of it after that, and cheaper in those first years from incentives if he doesn't turn this ship around? That seems like a reasonable incremental step.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Me, too, but I understand Gal Gadot demanded guaranteed money.

Should've given it to her.

 

[gt02]

Not a fan but I’ll back him. Let’s go!

(Now let’s see what the contract looks like)

 

[Techastrophe]

I have a theory that I may have shared here before. In athletes, coaches, business hires intrinsic talent is important but we give it too much weight, like you can line everyone up from best to worst and it's absolute. In this way of thinking, when a hire or a draft pick performs way over or under expectations the only failure is you assessed that person wrong, they weren't who you thought they were. I believe that, in reality, the onboarding process and the resulting trust and fit make an enormous difference. Navy Seals turned management consultants make a ton of money telling managers it's not their fault, their team members are crappy and will always be crappy until you get better ones. Posts (fonts?) here often disregard the development process of a coach, coaching staff, and his relationships. Whatever Key may lack on the "absolute talent" axis versus other coaches, what he has proven in foundation, fit, and trust with athletes can likely not be matched.

 

[Randy Carson]

it is time to move on.

Please do.

 

[John]

I agree with many, it is time to move on.

I think there's only like four of you so far. But anyway, can you really turn it on and off like that whenever you want? I found out that I really can't. Sometimes I get a cut or something and I'm always surprised that my blood isn't really yellow.

But anyway, it was nice to have you here. Feel free to PM me if you would like for your account to be deleted. We only do so upon request.

 

[GT05]

Having gone through the last 3 years there’s no where to go but up.

 

[GT33]

Navy Seals turned management consultants make a ton of money telling managers it's not their fault, their team members are crappy and will always be crappy until you get better ones.

If you ever attended any of their training, you completely missed the basic elements they tried to convey to you and notably you missed lesson #1 by as much as you possibly could.

 

[WraleighWreck]

Based on what Key has said all along about getting the permanent job, I don’t doubt he told Batt that he would sit down to talk only after the season was over. So, while Batt was talking to other candidates and maybe getting fairly far along with some(reducing list as they went along based on $, demands, etc) I am going to assume that Key got the final interview yesterday or today, knocked it out of the park and the rest is history. Regardless of what really happened, that’s what I’m gonna believe happened and will fully support Key. Congratulations to Brent Key, to the team and to all the great Tech supporters - I feel strongly that this is going to prove to be a positive turning point for Georgia Tech football. Go Jackets!

 

[Techastrophe]

If you ever attended any of their training, you completely missed the basic elements they tried to convey to you and notably you missed lesson #1 by as much as you possibly could.

What's taught in BUD/S and what managers are willing to pay a consultant to tell them are two entirely different things.

 

[DavidStandingBear]

No doubt that we got the best HC that we could afford. Hope he gets a creative OC!

 

[lv20gt]

I think there's only like four of you so far. But anyway, can you really turn it on and off like that whenever you want? I found out that I really can't. Sometimes I get a cut or something and I'm always surprised that my blood isn't really yellow.

Unfortunately it's not a turning it off and on thing.

I'm a sidewalk fan mostly because my dad went there and was a huge fan and we bonded over watching GT football and basketball growing up. It was literally the best memories I have growing up. Plan was to go there but life happened and ended up elsewhere. Didn't really change anything. Watched every game and called him every half time and after the game to discuss. Unfortunately he died so that reason is gone. Didn't really change things at first. Still loved watching GT games and it helped me get through it. The last 4 years I just accepted as the transition issues that we were told to expect way back when Johnson was first hired, and held on hope that once we got through it and made the next hire I'd be excited again.

And we just decided to promote from within largely because he's a 'tech guy'. However, my view of what it means to be a 'tech guy' probably differs from most here. Most of my experience with 'tech guys' are they are full of themselves and think just because they went to GT it means they are instantly good at whatever they do. If something goes wrong, it must be because someone else messed up. And this hire epitomizes that attitude. No HC experience? No problem. He's a GT guy. So he's obviously good enough naturally. His one year of experience as OC was horrible. Obviously not his fault. Terrible OL the past 4 years he was OL coach here? Obviously not because of him. Yeah, the players love him, he bleeds white and gold, would run through a brick wall, and a bunch of other superficial rara nonsense (ironic considering the depiction of Collins). Great if you're one of those super believers in the 'tech guy' thing. Not so much if you aren't. And now there isn't even the hope that the next time we make a coaching change I'll have something to look forward to. Just got burned with that belief. Realistically I'll probably only be interested in the next BBall hire but I have no reason to believe we won't go cheap there as well.

So it's not really a turning it off. Just slowly losing interest. And that means there really isn't a turning it back on either.

But hey, apparently a lot of guys got who they wanted.

 

[GT33]

What's taught in BUD/S and what managers are willing to pay a consultant to tell them are two entirely different things.

Wasn't talking about BUD/S, but the leadership message is essentially the same. No SEAL worth his **** tells a bunch of suits there's a different leadership style that's as effective as the one that's beaten into their heads day 1. If you saw one like that, you got ripped off. He lost his way or never found it and eventually washed out.

 

[DiffusedAcorn]

And we just decided to promote from within largely because he's a 'tech guy'. However, my view of what it means to be a 'tech guy' probably differs from most here. Most of my experience with 'tech guys' are they are full of themselves and think just because they went to GT it means they are instantly good at whatever they do. If something goes wrong, it must be because someone else messed up. And this hire epitomizes that attitude. No HC experience? No problem. He's a GT guy. So he's obviously good enough naturally. His one year of experience as OC was horrible. Obviously not his fault. Terrible OL the past 4 years he was OL coach here? Obviously not because of him. Yeah, the players love him, he bleeds white and gold, would run through a brick wall, and a bunch of other superficial rara nonsense (ironic considering the depiction of Collins). Great if you're one of those super believers in the 'tech guy' thing. Not so much if you aren't. And now there isn't even the hope that the next time we make a coaching change I'll have something to look forward to. Just got burned with that belief. Realistically I'll probably only be interested in the next BBall hire but I have no reason to believe we won't go cheap there as well.

So it's not really a turning it off. Just slowly losing interest. And that means there really isn't a turning it back on either.

But hey, apparently a lot of guys got who they wanted.

I understand how you could see that, and I am by no means the number one Key guy here, he was maybe four or five on my list of candidates. But in his interim he has proved to be more than a "Tech Guy" he is a leader of young men who rallied these guys to beat teams they had no business beating despite having injured QBs etc. He obviously has his flaws in his limited experience and his OL being not good, but there is no denying his interim stint was impressive and he is an exceptional leader. To proclaim this a hire of a "Tech Guy" is ignorant to what happened, he proved he can lead a football team over the last eight weeks, and given we are strapped for cash we decided that was the best route. But he certainly isn't just a "Tech Guy" hire with no other merits.