The two current halves of Georgia Tech football have a past, but they might not be as familiar as some people would think.
Though new Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt and interim football coach Brent Key were at Alabama together for about two years, they had little or no interaction, Key said Monday at his weekly news conference.
“President Ángel Cabrera made a great hire. We were together at a time at Alabama. I thought it was a year; someone said it was two years. In which you have to understand at that place you have little contact with anyone outside of your hallway, which is about five people,” Key said. “There’s very little time as a coach to have much interaction with people. It is a bubble, and we may interact here or there, but the interactions are not what you would think they are.”
Key worked at Alabama from 2016-2018 as an offensive line coach. Batt joined the university in 2017, holding roles including executive deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer and chief revenue officer.
They will work together until the end of the football season – and perhaps longer.
As of Monday morning, the two had not met on Georgia Tech’s campus.
“He just arrived today. At some point soon, we will meet,” Key said of Batt.
Key has been busy focusing on the Yellow Jackets’ next opponent: Virginia on Thursday night. Since he took over for former coach Geoff Collins, Key has gone 2-0 with victories over Pittsburgh and Duke.
