Georgia Tech’s 2025 roster is in no way etched in cement, but what third-year coach Brent Key is working with this spring won’t be too dissimilar to what takes the field in August ahead of the Yellow Jackets’ opener at Colorado on Aug. 29.
Key’s roster consists of 18 transfers who Key believes will help increase the talent level and depth of his program as it looks to contend for the ACC championship this season.
Key told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he met in person with 44 players and those meetings ranged from 45 minutes to 2½ hours. He added that there is a bit of a misconception that college athletes simply are looking for the next spot that will give them the most financial gain. There still are plenty of other factors both parties must consider before coming to an agreement.
“The fit still matters. The money matters. The facilities matter. All of it matters,” Key said.
Key credited his staff with sifting through the NCAA’s transfer portal and funneling potential additions to Key before he schedules those 1-on-1 meetings.
“The staff worked extremely hard vetting guys out,” Key added. “Character, toughness, discipline issues, where they fit. I think we did a good job of getting good players who will be good, solid players for us.”
On offense, Tech added running back Malachi Hosley (Pennsylvania), wide receivers Eric Rivers (Florida International), Debron Gatling (South Carolina) and Dean Patterson (Florida International), tight ends Harry Lodge (Wake Forest) and J.T. Byrne (California) and offensive linemen Andrew Rosinski (North Carolina) and Jakolby Jones (Copiah-Lincoln Community College). Hosley, a graduate of Northside High School in Columbus, was the Ivy League player of the year in 2024 while Rivers and Patterson combined for 1,857 receiving yards in 2024 at FIU.
On defense, Tech beefed up its line and added depth to the back end with portal additions. A.J. Hoffler (Clemson), Melvin Jordan (Oregon State), Brayden Manley (Mercer), Ronald Triplette (Texas-San Antonio), Matthew Alexander (Central Florida) all play defensive line while Daiquan White (Eastern Michigan) and Kelvin Hill (Alabama-Birmingham) joined Tech’s secondary. Cayman Spaulding, who transferred from Tennessee Tech, is the lone linebacker addition.
Tech also added punter Marshall Nichols from Nevada-Las Vegas and long snapper Luke Whiting from Florida Atlantic.
All those players joined the program in January and have been working with their new teammates during Tech’s spring practice which continues Thursday. Tech’s spring game is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 12.
“What’s so exciting nowadays is teams are so different now,” Key told ACC Network in March. “It used to (be) a percentage of your team came in the summer. It’s gotten less and less each year, to now you’re to the point you’re really changing out about 30-35% of your roster every January. We lost some good players, and we gained some good players.
“It’s gonna be fun to see the past six weeks, past eight weeks of offseason workouts all come to fruition now and really start to build the chemistry of this team.”
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