Georgia Tech associate head coach for special teams and cornerbacks coach Ricky Brumfield did not travel with the team for its game at Virginia Tech at noon Saturday, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Hired by Key in 2023, Brumfield reportedly signed an extension with Tech in September, placing him under contract through the 2026 season at an average base salary of $425,000. Brumfield’s original contract paid him an annual salary of $300,000. He also interviewed for an assistant coaching position with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams in February.
Last season, Brumfield’s unit allowed only one blocked field-goal attempt and one blocked punt, got their hands on four field-goal attempts (the third most nationally) and ranked fourth in the ACC on punt returns. Kick-return defense was an issue at 26.8 yards allowed per return.
Tech enters Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech ranked 121st nationally in kickoff-return defense (24.9 yards allowed per return) and 103rd nationally in punt-return defense (10.7 yards allowed per return). The Jackets also haven’t been much of a threat with their own returns, averaging only eight yards per punt return and only 20 yards per kickoff return.
Tech has blocked four kicks this season, one shy of the national leader Florida State, which has five.
In a 31-13 loss to No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday, Tech had a field-goal attempt blocked and another field-goal attempt abandoned because of a high snap. It also gave up a fake punt and fake field goal for first downs.
During Tech’s win at North Carolina on Oct. 12, the Jackets allowed a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown. On Oct. 5 against Duke, a 67-yard kickoff return by the Blue Devils began the second half. And against Louisville on Sept. 21, the Cardinals returned a blocked field-goal attempt 40 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“It was disappointing because we spend a lot of time on special teams,” Key said on 680 The Fan on Thursday. “For a year we made so much improvement. First four games of the year we made a ton of improvement. We’d continually gotten better. We were top four in the league in almost every (statistical) category. You have to look at it, own it, accept responsibility for it, but you have to find out why and why it is. And you gotta get it fixed. Really at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you do during the week, none of that matters, what matters is how you play on Saturday and how you perform then.”
“I looked down and said, ‘What’s happened here that caused those things occur?’ I’m the head coach and I’m the one to take responsibility for every bit of it. That was my job. My job was also to fix it, though. My job is not to fix it and say, ‘Oh, well, we worked on it.’ That’s bullcrap. What matters are the results.”
Key went on to add: “It’s gotta end. The buck stops here. I’ll say this. There’s no excuses, there’s no exceptions. It has to end, it has to improve and get back on track to where we were previously.”
Brumfield, a former wide receiver for Utah State, has been an assistant coach for nearly 25 years and a special-teams coordinator at Florida International, Virginia, Texas San Antonio, Western Kentucky and Nicholls State.
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