Brent Key checked another first off his list Tuesday.
He attended the ACC’s Football Kickoff as a head coach, his debut in that role.
“This has been cool. I like it a lot,” he said toward the end of his day in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I love talking ball. I love talking about Georgia Tech. I love talking about our kids.”
While Key has been the focal point of plenty of media events both as a career assistant and as Tech’s interim coach during the final two-thirds of the 2022 season, and while he said he attended an American Athletic Conference media day toward the end of George O’Leary’s tenure at Central Florida, never before had he been the face of a program like he was Tuesday at the Westin Charlotte. And for roughly seven hours the former Tech lineman went from station to station answering questions about the current, and future, state of his program.
A recurring theme throughout the day was how Brent Key the head coach is different than Brent Key the offensive line coach. He said he hopes that difference is nonexistent.
“I don’t change the way I go about my day-to-day business. I don’t change the way try to inspire others around me to work. Those are things you learn when you’re little,” he said. “Those are things I learned from my mom. I learned those from my high school coach. I learned those many, many years ago. Those are the types of values that you carry with you.”
Key brought a trio of Yellow Jackets along with him to represent the program, defensive back LaMiles Brooks, offensive lineman Jordan Williams and defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen. That trio also was peppered with questions about Key: How is he different than Tech’s former coach Geoff Collins? What makes Key a good coach? Why do you believe in Key? Why is Key the right coach for the job?
The players did an admirable job of avoiding any viral or vitriolic phrases that might disparage Collins, instead giving greater insight into their new leader.
“He’s a great person,” Yondjouen said. “I think he’s somebody that cares a lot about the people he’s around. He’s a Tech man, that’s something important because when you go through Tech, you’re a different person.
“You can feel the warmth of the father he is, the coach he is, the coach he was as an O-line coach. The way he cares about the kids, the way he teaches. The way he coaches is something amazing, something you want to be around. He’s been successful, and you know it. Personally it’s great to be around him.”
Key, who has crafted much of his coaching prowess from the likes of O’Leary and Nick Saban, once was considered the coach-in-waiting at Central Florida less than a decade ago. Instead, he returned to Tech in 2019 (after a three-year stint with Saban at Alabama) to coach the offensive line under Collins.
The opportunity to land his first head coaching gig after an eight-game interim stretch leading his alma mater isn’t exactly how Key envisioned things transpiring. But his players rallied for him on the field and off the field in 2022, further strengthening his candidacy.
Yondjouen said Key had a knack for giving fiery pregame speeches during the 2022 season. The Belgian lineman explained that it was a confusing time for he and his teammates not knowing what the future held, but Key always seemed to find a way to clear the air.
Four wins on the field didn’t hurt Key’s candidacy, either.
“Everybody was on the same page. It was loud-and-clear who we wanted as our head coach,” Williams said. “We all wanted Key. It’s kind of just knowing what you’re going to get. You just know that you’re going to be pushed, you know you’re going to get better, you know you’re going to learn more about football.
“He’s always willing to go to war for us, and we’re always willing to go to war for him.”
Tech players report to campus Monday, and the team is scheduled to begin preseason practice at 2 p.m. Tuesday, which also happens to be Key’s 45th birthday. The start of camp also will be another first for Key as he takes a good look at what technically will be the first squad under his direction.
Most of that squad, though, already knows exactly what it is getting in its head coach.
“All the little things that contribute to success in a program he has provided that for us,” Brooks said. “He consistently asks what do we want and want to see as a team and for the team? When we voice those opinions, he makes sure it gets done.
“It’s different when you have a coach who believes in you no matter who you’re playing or the adversity you faced. If he believes in you, then all you can do is believe in yourself. The way we believe in him, it kind of just goes hand-in-hand and allows us to go out and play.”
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