Georgia Tech coach Brent Key and three of his Yellow Jackets players will be part of opening-day festivities Monday at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tech is scheduled to participate on the first day of the four-day event in part because of its season-opening game Aug. 24 against Florida State — because of the date of that contest, the Jackets must begin preseason practice Thursday. Florida State coach Mike Norvell and the Seminoles are scheduled to speak Monday as well.
Here’s a look ahead to Tech’s appearance at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown and five of the most likely topics they’ll be asked to discuss:
1. Expectations
There aren’t many fewer things that Key would rather discuss than the expectations for his 2024 team, expectations relative to win-loss record and on-field results. Key certainly has expectations for his players when it comes to execution, discipline, toughness and the standards of his program, but asking to him to prognosticate how many wins his team will have is not his favorite subject (his rebuttal to that sort of question is that when someone asks a coach how many games his team will win, they’re also suggesting he peg how many games his team will lose).
Of course, the expectations question is a fair one. For a team coming off a 7-6 season, bowl win and four wins in their past six games, what is a reasonable expectation for the Jackets in 2024? Perhaps the Jackets players in attendance – Zeek Biggers, Jamal Haynes and Haynes King – will be able to give more of an insight into the team’s mindset when it comes to expectations for 2024.
2. A repeat performance on offense
Speaking of expectations, they are very high when it comes to Tech’s offense.
Not only does King return at quarterback and Haynes return at running back, but the Jackets have their co-offensive coordinators (Buster Faulkner and Chris Weinke), four of five starting offensive linemen and a whole host of productive wide receivers back, too.
Tech had the nation’s 13th-best rushing offense and a top-35 total offense in 2023. With all the aforementioned pieces coming back, how will the Jackets offense handle the expectations to perform at a high level and produce at a better rate?
3. The schedule is so hard
Yet another talking point Key will scoff at, the narrative regarding the toughness of Tech’s slate.
But the Jackets truly don’t have too many easy outs over the three-plus months that is the ‘24 season. It begins with that trip to Dublin to face the defending league champs in FSU, includes a trip to ACC runner-up Louisville, a home game with North Carolina State (which finished third in the standings in 2023), a matchup with College Football Playoff-contender Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and, oh, a trip to Athens.
Tech also has road games at Virginia Tech and North Carolina. Every FBS opponent on the schedule played in a bowl game in the 2023 season.
But, as Key likely will reiterate Monday and through the entirety of the preseason, harping on the challenges of the 2024 schedule is a waste of breath and time when that energy could be better spent preparing to win the games on said schedule.
4. The ‘Noles and Ireland
It is a fascinating matchup on many levels.
Florida State has had an entire offseason to let wounds either heal or fester from, 1) its snub from inclusion in the four-team College Football Playoff; and 2) its 63-3 loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl. The Seminoles will undoubtedly continue to be asked about these two things Monday and throughout the weeks leading to Aug. 24.
Meanwhile, Tech, about a two-touchdown underdog, will be playing FSU for only the third time since 2015. Can it match up with what is considered an elite roster and elite team?
Representatives of each program certainly will be asked about facing the other Aug. 24. It would be eyebrow-raising if either provided any sort of bulletin-board material about the matchup.
5. Grab bag
Media-day events often bring out off-the-wall questions for coaches and players as many entities are looking for those viral moments. What are some topics the Jackets could encounter Monday? Name, image and likeness? The new EA Sports College Football 25 video? Conference realignment? Favorite foods and music and fashion?
Key and his players are likely to be asked any number of oddball things throughout the day.
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