Keylan Rutledge admits it is only human nature to consider the what-if scenarios.
What if he hadn’t decided to transfer from Middle Tennessee? What if he had taken a recruiting visit to Clemson another day instead of trying to fit trips to two schools into the same weekend? What if he hadn’t seen that other car swerve his direction? What if he hadn’t been wearing his seat belt or if that random motorist hadn’t stopped to help or if the injuries had been worse?
“I knew there was a reason it happened. I put all my faith in the man above, so it was like, ‘OK, I’m cool, let me deal with this now,’ ” Rutledge said. “I guess there’s always a thought, you just think like, ‘Dang, man, if I didn’t go to Clemson, just stayed here, didn’t split that weekend up, maybe it doesn’t happen.’ But can’t ever think that way.”
Rutledge, a 6-foot-3, 312-pound right guard who has started all nine games for Georgia Tech this season, is lucky to be alive after what happened Dec. 7.
Minutes after dropping off his mother and sister in Carnesville on that rainy day in northeast Georgia, Rutledge, driving a 2007 Nissan Frontier, merged back on to I-85 heading north for Clemson, South Carolina, having just completed a visit to Tech as a transfer recruit. As Rutledge neared Commerce, a black sport utility vehicle unexpectedly swerved toward Rutledge’s vehicle.
Driving in the left lane with a concrete divider to his left, Rutledge was caught with nowhere to go. He jerked his vehicle to the right on the slick road and suddenly his truck went tumbling off the road, flipping multiple times before landing in a ditch.
“The first thing when you’re flipping, you’re just holding on to the steering wheel, like, ‘God.’ You’re praying,” Rutledge said. “You end up upside down it’s like, ‘How do I get out?’”
Instincts took over for Rutledge, who looked to the driver’s side window and smashed the glass with his elbow.
“I crawled out, ran up to the road, flagged someone down and finally someone stopped. Just a random person. It was so chaotic. They got the police there, and I was all in shambles and stuff. Never got to get their name. They were an angel for sure.”
The hours that followed were a blur. Rutledge couldn’t reach his mother or sister, but he did reach his girlfriend. She connected with Rutledge’s family, who actually arrived at the scene as Rutledge was being taken away in an ambulance.
At first, Rutledge thought he had nothing more than bruises and scratches (and embedded fragments of glass) stemming from the accident. That’s what he thought until he saw the big toe on his left foot sticking out of his sock at a perpendicular angle.
Rutledge explained how he underwent foot surgery the next day, but because of the severity of the break to the toe, the skin on his foot could be sewn up only to a point. That essentially left him with an open wound for the next six weeks.
In the meantime, only six days after he lay upside in a ditch to the side of the interstate, he let Tech know he wanted to play for the Jackets in 2024.
“I knew in my head that I wasn’t gonna go far (from home). Now my mom can be at every game, my family can be at every game,” Rutledge said Oct. 31. “Today after class I’m gonna go back (home). Then you’re obviously able to see what they were able to do on offense last year and you’re like, ‘OK I wanna be a part of that.’”
When Rutledge reported to Tech in January, however, the true — and unforeseen — road to recovery began.
The pin that had been placed in Rutledge’s foot to keep his toe straight had been bent — that required another surgery on its own. Then it was determined the toe had developed an infection, an infection so severe that amputation wasn’t out of the question if it wasn’t treated as quickly as possible.
Rutledge had to use a knee scooter to get around campus and his left foot was in a walking boot until April 23. He missed all of Tech’s spring practice as he continued to work with assistant athletic trainer Griffin Loflin and Tech’s athletic training team to work toward returning to the football field.
“I think you just gotta attack it day by day, just know what you’re here for,” Rutledge said in August. “You got to be grateful for the good Lord above, just for that accident not being as bad as it could have been. So in that process, I knew it would be a long one. You just got to be thankful to the strength staff and the health care here, just taking care of me and just attacking it day by day knowing that every step is closer to playing football.”
Photo by Georgia Tech Athletics/Danny Karnik
Photo by Georgia Tech Athletics/Danny Karnik
Having spent some of his childhood in Norcross, Rutledge developed his athletic prowess in Franklin County, where he excelled in football, basketball and eventually track and field (joining his Franklin County High School football team at the urging of an assistant basketball coach). He scored 1,000 points and collected 1,000 rebounds during his hoops career and won a state championship in the shot put with a throw of 53 feet, four inches as a senior.
But it was on the football field where he mostly wanted to be. He relished playing tight end, defensive tackle, defensive end, linebacker, fullback and, of course, the offensive line. The Franklin County Lions even had a package with Rutledge at quarterback — a tidbit he likes to bring up to his offensive teammates and coaches from time to time.
College programs, however, didn’t really come calling for Rutledge. He loved Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill and also gave serious consideration to playing for Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia. Wake Forest offered Rutledge a “grayshirt” opportunity just before signing day in December 2021.
“So many kids develop at different rates,” Tech coach Brent Key said on 680 The Fan in August. “I remember looking at (Rutledge) coming out of high school. I think he was like 230 at the time, 240 (pounds)? Guys develop at different rates. You can’t predict that. We can try all we want in the evaluation of recruiting, but we can’t predict how guys are gonna grow.”
Rutledge decided to head to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and he thrived there from the jump. He started in 17 of the 22 games he played in, was named to the all-freshman team in Conference USA and helped the Blue Raiders win the Hawaii Bowl in 2022 and was a first-team all-Conference USA pick in 2023.
When Stockstill was fired in November 2023, Rutledge took a few days to consider his future. He knew he had grown and developed enough to compete at a higher level, and then figured whether he stayed at Middle Tennessee or enrolled somewhere else, he would have to play for a new coaching staff. So Rutledge chose to put his name in the transfer portal — and within minutes Tech offensive line coach Geep Wade was on the phone.
Rutledge goes into Saturday’s noon matchup with No. 4 Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium having played 604 offensive snaps this season, the second-most among Jackets. He’s been graded, by Pro Football Focus, as the team’s third-best pass blocker and second-best run blocker among offensive linemen.
Key praised Rutledge for his ability to immediately mesh with a veteran O-line and to provide consistent stability playing alongside right tackle Jordan Williams.
“He’s been very solid. He’s a wide body, low center of gravity. You’ve heard me say he’s a throwback the way he plays the game,” Key added. “Really glad he’s here. With the injury he had back in (December), goodness gracious, a lot of people didn’t know if he was gonna be able to come back from that. He might’ve had to have his toe cut off and removed.
“I think you’re starting to see him really settle back in. I’m excited to be able to have him as we do right now, but also continue having him for another whole season.”
Rutledge has his sights set on being a football coach when his playing career is over. He hopes that’s a long time from now, though, as he confidently said he believes he’s an NFL-caliber lineman.
The man teammates call “Big Red” has one season of eligibility remaining at Tech, one he’s more than thankful for, especially considering his career almost was cut frighteningly short.
“It’s just God. You just gotta thank the good Lord man above,” Rutledge said. “If that happens 10 more times, like, if we’re being real, nine times you’re definitely … it’s just crazy that it’s a toe, not a leg, not an arm. Could have been a lot worse. If you don’t have your seat belt on, you’re dead for sure.”
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