ATLANTA — Brent Key isn’t taking on a rebuilding job at Georgia Tech. Key already repaired the team’s spirit after it was broken in the final days of the Geoff Collins era. Unlike most new head coaches, Key isn’t coming into this cold. He’s seen the players up close. Key knows the lay of the land on The Flats, where he played for four seasons and has coached for four more.
The most important reason why the Yellow Jackets aren’t a salvage project for Key is that he has a pretty good player talent base to work with. That’s incongruent with Tech’s 14-32 record (11-22 ACC) over the past four seasons. Chalk some of that up to the rough transition away from the triple-option. Put the rest on Collins’ inability to demonstrate that he can win at the Power Five level.
One thing Collins did right, though, was to increase the level of player talent at Tech. After Hall of Fame coach Paul Johnson ambushed opponents with his specialized offense, there now are more good players in Tech’s program. They just need better coaching.
