The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are about a week away from starting their season against the Colorado Buffaloes. As the season nears, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key held a press conference.
Georgia Tech Football: Major Takeaways from Brent Key Press Conference
Key started by discussing his summer vacation, recalling a stand-up comedy set he watched on Netflix (Derrick Stroup). He also had a ton to discuss about the current Georgia Tech team, like the captains, his relationship with George Godsey (and Godsey’s relationship with Alberto Mendoza), the tight ends and wide receivers, the trenches, and Georgia Tech fans.
2026-27 Captains
He started off the serious version of the press conference by announcing three captains for this season: transfer edge rusher Jordan Walker, kicker Aiden Birr, and running back Trelain Maddox. Originally, he just said that it “felt right”.
Later on, he described what traits stood out about each of them.
“Jordan’s been here the least amount of time. He’s probably the most vocal,” said Key when describing Walker.
“I’ve talked so many times about what a great football player Aidan is and how much he means to the team,” said Key about Birr. “When he stands up in front of the team, he commands everyone’s respect, and everyone listens.”
He explained that Maddox’s selection was “not only what he’s done on the field or how he carries himself as a man, but the adversity he’s overcome.” Maddox worked to overcome injuries and adversity to carve out a role at Georgia Tech.
Alberto Mendoza’s Development
Key, naturally, had a lot to say on Godsey. He described the offensive coordinator’s leadership style, his relationship with Alberto Mendoza, and Key’s relationship with Godsey.
Key mentioned he looks for toughness and intelligence when discussing Alberto Mendoza. “A quarterback’s got to be intelligent, right, and they have to be tough,” said Key. “Toughness is the number one quality we’re looking for in the quarterback. And that’s mental toughness.”
Key highlighted Godsey and Mendoza’s relationship and how Alberto’s dealing with the volume of their offense. “Godsey and Berto have kind of a their own their own love language with each other,” Key joked. “But they’re very similar guys. Same with Chris (Weinke).”
Key is trying to run the offense to Alberto’s comfort level to give him the comfort to grow and develop. “The volume we have, the volume of our offense, the volume of our defense, the volume of our special teams is going to be directly correlated to our ability to learn it. All schemes are personnel-driven from an ability standpoint and an intelligence standpoint.”
But at the end of the day, you say all these things, he still has not started to college football game. He’s a sophomore, right? He’s going to he’s going to take his lumps and bumps. And that’s on us as coaches to not have to put the whole thing into his arsenal to start.”
Trench Play
The personnel on both sides of the line of scrimmage is full of new faces. Georgia Tech lost Keylan Rutledge and Jordan van den Berg via the NFL draft, and several transfers, such as Alabama’s Joseph Ionata and Colorado’s Tawfiq Thomas, are expected to be big impacts.
So far, Key’s been very impressed by the trenches. “I think they’ve really established themselves from a maturity standpoint, from a play standpoint, from a confidence standpoint,” said Key on the defensive line. That rings true with defensive end Jordan Walker becoming one of the captains.
He’s very satisfied with the work Allen Mogridge has done to put the offensive line in shape. “I told Mo (coach Mogridge) the other day, I said, he got coach of the year for the week,” Key joked about coach Mogridge. “I think about just how, from the first scrimmage until now, the O-line has really come together.”
You’re seeing those accumulated, you know, double teams and body blows and just work with each other really starting to add up now. And in the production of the offense, obviously going along with it. So I’ve been pleased with both of them.”
Overall, Key is excited about the upcoming season, and he wants the student section to be full to see it through. Georgia Tech’s student section has already broken the record for most season tickets for the third straight season.
“It’s pretty cool to see that, a couple of weeks ago, the student tickets were already sold out,” said Key. “It’s incredible how the school has grown, especially in the last two to three years. But the student tickets sold out- I think 7,000. But if there are 7,600 freshmen, that means you kind of do the math, right? There is not a better home-field advantage in the country than what we have when our student body is here and playing the game along with us.”
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