Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked to the media on Tuesday after all of the staff changes he decided to make. He discussed those changes and why he decided to move in a different direction this late in the season. Here are the most important quotes from his press conference. 

Everyone Deserves Blame 

Key did not put blame on just one player or coach, he went in depth today about what has gone wrong and why he opted to make staff changes:

“So, everyone in here deserves uh blame and should be accountable and that begins with me. I chose to bring those men here and  you know making those decisions is what's necessary in leading an organization. Look it's not doing the easy things, it's doing the things that are necessary, but I also told the whole staff and I told the team that I said this and that just because everyone's sitting here right now you know doesn't mean that you should be comfortable that you're going to remain here. All right? Because this is based on production, right? And this is based on the ability to be a leader at your respective position to hold your position accountable and how we perform on Saturdays. When I say accountability, I'm talking about on the field, off the field, in the classroom, academically, you get, you know, the grades they get, all those things.

“This has been a process for a while now of evaluating everything. Uh, no different than I said on Saturday night. And uh, but I feel like this was the best in the immediate. Uh, things that we have to uh, give our guys a chance to be able to go out and play football, on Saturday,” said Key. 

0-4 in key areas

There are plenty of reasons why Georgia Tech is 0-4, but there are some key areas where Brent Key was focused on in today's press conference:

“I judge toughness when I watch film based on running the ball, stopping the run, covering kicks, and how you play on the perimeter, sustaining blocks, and getting off blocks, right? And that's a big 0-4 That's a big 0-4 in the program. So, I'm very transparent about it, about where we're at. Uh,, you know, a lot of changes within, but again,, we want to give our guys an opportunity to play the best football and, uh, and have a chance to win football games. At the end of the day, that's what this is about. It's about winning games and graduating players,” said Key. 

On dismissing Coach Mo 

One of the coaches dismissed yesterday was offensive line coach Allen Mogridge, who coached alongside Key during their time at UCF and two years ago when Mogridge was the assistant offensive line coach alongside former OL coach Geep Wade. Key talked about Mogridge and their relationship today:

“This has nothing to do with friendships, nothing to do with how long you know somebody, how long they've been here, right? And that's very evident. This has to do with production. It has to do with leadership and then accountability within the group., I grade every coach, you know, evaluation that I do. And look, you talk about Mo, I mean, you talk about accountability with the players and coaching the culture into the group. I mean, I mean, he's a 10 out of 10, man. All right. At the end of the day,  you know, he's a great man. He's a great husband. He's a great father. At the end of the day it didn't look the way it's supposed to look right you know that's the foundational blocks of the program are being able to run the ball and protect the quarterback and starting up front and uh you know it's, it's, it's those are tough decisions but they're not as tough when you really do them for the right reason and that's for the players,” said Key. 

On why he chose Vinnie Sunseri to call plays 

With defensive coordinator Jason Semore being let go, safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri is taking over as the playcaller on that side of the ball and Key explained why today:

“He's the one I felt was best capable of doing it. Um he's been around good defensive coaches, you know, in his life, starting with his dad. I mean, he's a football lifer, but uh you know, I want it to be consistent. I want it to be organized and I want the guys to be able to be in position to make plays.

On what he has learned this season

“I mean there's so many things that could be sitting down with all of us for hour upon hour talking about the things that have been brought to light. But I think the number one thing is uh being able to handle adversity, right? To walk into the eye of a storm, right? Not bat an eye to be able to walk in and still do what has to be done. And that's the lead. Um, that's worked to keep people on the same page, keep the boat up, you know, up. Uh, that's been a big part cuz let's be real now, like, you know, since I've been the head coach here, there's been, you know, some, you know, losses, things like that, but there has not been true long-term adversity like this, right? So, a lot you learn a lot about yourself, but you learn a lot about other people.

You learn a lot about other people um, in a lot of ways. Okay? And that's just personally talking. You know, you could get into everything from offseason programs to what we do in the offseason programs, timing of the programs. I mean, I've been into, you know, timing of practices, morning versus afternoons to  you know, the time of spring ball, you know, having time with injury uh prevention, injury, uh uh you know, rehab, you know, once you finish spring or whatever it or whatnot. All these things being said, we have to put a plan in place that allows our players to, you know, either stay healthy, right? And when they do get hurt, get back, you know, in due time, right? That's a huge part of this, right? you know, the injuries we've had this year of the deep dive into that.

 That's a big part of what you know, we talk about January when they come back from, the second semester or they come back for the second semester. All this stuff has to be in place. Leadership, co-mingling between offense and defense with the groups so that they truly get to know each other, truly will play for each other. Guys that are here that are uh you know, that know what the program is, right? Regardless of age, when a guy comes in and when a transfer comes into the program, they have a big brother. That big brother might be three years younger than them, but knowing about the program, how to do things, uh and holding that person accountable to them,” said Key.