With a little more than a month until high school prospects can sign scholarship papers, Brent Key and his coaching staff will continue to make final pushes and pitches to their top targets to join what will be another strong recruiting class for Georgia Tech football.
There currently are 21 high school seniors pledged to become Yellow Jackets starting in 2025. It’s a class ranked 19th nationally by the 247Sports Composite and third among ACC programs behind Miami and Clemson, respectively.
“We got a really strong class of guys, really good core group of guys when you look at across the board from the back end of the defense, guys that we hope can be able to come in and play, contribute. Guys in the front on both sides of the ball,” Key said Oct. 31 about the class. “Obviously offensive line’s always a little bit more developmental than the defensive side, but feel really strong over there.
“I think this recruiting class, the coaches have done a really good job, the staff has done a really good job of recruiting these guys. They understand what they’re coming here for. You’ll go through and pinpoint the spots that you need maturity help from, possibly, the transfer portal and address those and really treat it no different, like I’ve said before, the (NFL) draft and free agency. Just in college they happen to happen at the same time.”
Tech’s class still is fronted by Josh Petty, a five-star offensive lineman at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell. Petty and four-star prospects Dalen Penson (S), Christian Garrett (DL), JP Powell (RB), Justin Hasenhuetl (OL) and Damola Ajidahun have all remained firm in their commitments to Tech.
Some of those prospects were part of a large contingent of recruits on campus Saturday to witness Tech take down undefeated and fourth-ranked Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The buzz that victory created, on a regional and national scale, will continue to pay dividends in recruiting, Key said.
“The exposure that the program’s been able to receive this year on a few instances, with the things these kids have done, it only increases the positive light the people see the program in,” Key added, referencing Tech’s first win over a top-10 team earlier this season over Florida State. “The most important thing with all that is the recruiting aspect. Being able to have people, really on a national and sometimes global market, be able to see the program in such a positive light, see the fan support, see the way the fans came out, the students showed out and the energy that was in the stadium.
“And the way our guys play. Our guys, they’re a fun group of guys to watch play. That goes back to how we want to continue to build the program. Obviously it’s the recruiting. That’s our lifeline. That’s where we’ve got to continue to build the depth of our program and build quality players in the program that are not only good football players but are good people.”
Another bonus for Key and his staff is having three off-weekends this month to give added attention to prospects, visit players at their homes and schools and watch players in person at playoff games. Tech had a bye weekend Nov. 2, has another this weekend and is off the weekend of Nov. 22-23 because of its game with North Carolina State on Thursday.
Key also can tout the fact his Yellow Jackets (6-4, 4-3 ACC) will be going to another bowl game as proof his program is continuing to head in a forward direction. Tangible evidence of results is another selling point for the former Tech offensive lineman continually trying to improve and reshape his roster.
“When you start a program, there’s a lot of things that you talk about what you’re gonna do and what the plan is. But I think now there’s enough now that they see the proof in the plan,” Key recently told radio station 680 The Fan. “They see that everything we’ve been saying has come to fruition. They’re seeing it in real time. And there’s an opportunity for these kids to come be a part of something that’s new and fresh and being built as opposed to something that’s possibly been around and been established.”
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