Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key spoke to the media one last time before the matchup against the Boston College Eagles. Let’s take a look at five of the most important things he said in his press conference.
On Boston College
Coach Key kept mentioning the Eagles' quarterback as a key player to watch and game plan for on Saturday. He also mentioned their movement defensively as a major thing to watch.
“It really starts with their quarterback (Mason McKenzie). You know, the quarterback's done a nice job for them. He's a division two transfer from Saginaw. He reminds me a lot of the guy we had here last year in a lot of ways. You know, he runs around, throws a good ball; you can tell he has command and leadership of the offense, and you know, obviously, so with them naming him as a captain, you know, just getting there. So he’s done a good job for him. Extends plays, scrambles, avoids pressure; you throw on the run, but also is a designed runner, and the quarterback reads. We got to be sharp on defense as far as our quarterback responsibilities and our pass rush responsibilities, and make sure that we keep him contained in the pocket when we can and not allow the big explosives that hurt you with that.
Then defensively, they run a variety of different things on defense, uh, frontwise, coverage-wise, a lot of movement, uh, expecting a lot of movement in the front and the interior, uh, really to cancel gaps and close gaps and create, uh, create vertical penetration in the backfield. So, we got to be sharp there, and then, um, you be able to play sound special teams,” said Key.
On Jordan Walker Availability
One of the biggest injuries the Yellow Jackets suffered was to team captain Jordan Walker. Coach Key was also specific about the injury that has kept Walker out.
“It was a lower ankle.”
“He's in that same mold really of Josh Petty. The end of the week they'll get their evaluations uh you know, go through the pregame and and whatnot. And if not this week, really hoping for next week. So, he's progressed. He's probably two to three weeks ahead of schedule. I mean, this is one we didn't think we were going to get back this year.
“Once he had the surgery, uh, you know, Dr. (Norman) Waldrop over in Birmingham, performed it, and he's been way ahead of schedule, been working his tail off, to come back and, when that strength's back in the ankle and ready to go, he'll be out there ready to roll, and can't happen soon enough. Promise you that,” said Key.
On how to finally become consistent
Coach Key was blunt about consistency and what needs to happen to ensure it on Saturday.
“If you want to be consistent, go be consistent. Go do it. Prepare consistently. Live your life consistently, right? And go play consistently. Don't have emotional responses when it's good or bad. Yeah. Get excited when you things good happen, right? Have energy. Play for each other, right? Don't play as independent contractors, right? We're making progress there. I thought last week we made some progress there in certain parts, right? But the small's got to become big before it all can become the whole. And uh so wait after we play a consistent game. Ask me and then I'll turn around and tell you because hindsight's always 2020 right,” said Key.
On the future of the running back room
Head coach Brent Key mentioned J.P Powell and Shane Marshall as cornerstone pieces moving forward and the future of the position.
“Don't be surprised we're sitting here next year and at this time, and those two guys are two of the better running backs in the league, right? Those guys (J.P Powell and Shane Marshall) are the future backs of this program now. And sometimes the future becomes now, though. So, I don't think it's about getting one guy back or not having one guy at the end of the day; let's all play and prepare to the best of our ability, and go play,” said Key.
On future roster construction
One of the biggest things in college football right now is roster construction, and you have to be forward-thinking if you want a roster built for the year to handle injuries, depth, and players leaving. Coach Key gave a little bit more on how to prep for it.
"The timelines and the rules and how you build your roster, right? If those actually line up with how college football's played, that'd be pretty cool. That'd make a lot of sense. But right now, they don't, right? Okay. So, yeah, there's a lot of, you know, you're rolling the dice on a lot of those things now. You get 24-hour speed dates a lot of times to figure things out. When you hit, you hit good, right? And it's awesome. But when you don't, you don't. You know, prior medical things, you know, whether you know, whatever it is, right? Then you got the unknowns when the guys leave.
“You have guys depart your program, and you don't you're not prepared for those guys to leave. So, what do you say? I'm going to prepare for everybody to leave. Well, then what's your culture in your locker room if it's changing every year? If it's new, right? So, there are a lot of things that go into that. We could talk for two hours about that. Uh, because I mean we're already four, four and a half, five weeks in, I guess, now to those deep discussions and deep dives. Uh, you know, as far as the approach and philosophy for this, you know, coming into the next cycle."
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