The Georgia Tech football program made their appearance at the 2026 ACC Kickoff right before the start of their season. Brent Key started the press conference, with Kyle Efford, Justice Haynes, and Malachi Hosley joining him. The Yellow Jackets are at a crossroads of a season, and this press conference gave us some insight into how their preseason is going and what to expect from them.
Georgia Tech Football: Key Takeaways from ACC Kickoff
Brent Key is still all-in on this squad
Key was adamant about his belief that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets should be competing for not just the ACC Championship, but the national championship.
“Last year was a good step in the right direction, winning nine games,” said Key in his opening statement, “But let’s make no mistake: I am not happy about that, all right?”
The Yellow Jackets have lost quarterback Haynes King, whose running presence helped Georgia Tech become the offense it did last season. They’re also dealing with an offensive coordinator, nearly an entirely new receiving core, and the departure of one of their top guards (Keylan Rutledge). They have 11 Power 4 conference opponents on their schedule: eight ACC teams, Georgia, Tennessee, and Colorado, and only two other teams (Louisville, Boston College) in the ACC have schedules that rigorous.
However, Key welcomes the competition. “We welcome any team to play us or us to play any team,” said Key, “Our out-of-conference schedule is as competitive as anybody in the country, as well as the ACC schedule that is as competitive as anyone in the league in an extremely competitive league.”
Key And the Transfer Portal
Key is embracing the new style of roster construction in the NCAA, and he criticized head coaches who push against the changes in college sports.
“They’re jumping jobs every two years,” said Key, “The adults in the room sometimes end up being the bigger problem than the kids.”
When asked what he prioritized in the transfer portal to keep the course, he said, “We had to increase our size. We increased our size in the line of scrimmage, our size everywhere, corners, receivers, line of scrimmage especially. If you want to play mean football late in the season, you’ve gotta have the depth and the size, and you’ve gotta be able to line up and play line of scrimmage football.”
That showed up in their transfer portal moves. Center Joseph Ionata (Alabama) measures at 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds; Isaiah Fuhrmann (Elon) is 6-foot-4 and weighs 200 pounds, and Gavin Harris is 6-foot-3, 250 pounds.
Why Justice Haynes committed to Georgia Tech
It was a wonder why Justice Haynes committed to the Georgia Tech football program when transferring from Michigan. At the ACC Kickoff, we figured out why.
“The coach said, ‘Our goal is to win championships here,'” said Haynes. “That was one of the reasons why I came, to leave a legacy bigger than myself. To leave a legacy and leave this place better than I found it.”
Haynes is from Alpharetta, Georgia. He went to high school at Blessed Trinity Catholic (Roswell, GA) and Buford (Buford, Georgia), and his father, Verron Haynes, was a former Georgia Bulldog and Atlanta Falcon. “My father has been everything in my football journey,” said the younger Haynes, “He’s done a lot for me and just being there by my side through it all, being my No. 1 fan, teaching me the game.”
The Two-Headed Backfield
Haynes will more than likely be falling into the same role as his predecessor, Jamal Haynes. He will be splitting carries with Malachi Hosley, who ran for 697 yards and seven touchdowns on just 98 attempts. Both of them believe they could be the best running back duo in the nation.
“I think we complement each other well,” said Haynes. “He and I call each other the bad boys. We call each other that because every time we step on the field, we’re the baddest dudes out there, and we’ve got to go out there and just ball, you know? We look at it as iron sharpens iron.”
Hosley, who transferred from Penn in 2025, is part of a backfield completely full of Georgia backs. “I mean, it means a lot,” said Hosley, when asked about the entire backfield being from Georgia, “Especially for me being from Georgia, playing for my home state is good. And I personally didn’t want to go to the other school in Georgia. It’s just a blessing that I got to go to Tech.”
Efford Puts in the Effort
Linebacker Kyle Efford was a second-time ACC Media Days representative, and, similar to last season, he’s focused on growing and developing as a leader. When I asked him about his comments last season of emerging as a vocal leader, and how he wants to build on that this season, he had this to say:
“I’m at that point now where I’m in my redshirt senior year, man, my fifth year,” said Efford, “I have no other option but to be a vocal leader and to lead my team by example, but also, if I need to speak up, I’ll speak up.”
New defensive coordinator Jason Semore was a linebackers coach when Efford was in his freshman season, so Efford and Semore already have a relationship on the defense. “His defense is made for linebackers to run the show, be the quarterbacks, get us in and out of defenses,” said Efford, “that’s what I’m willing to do for the defense, for the best of the team.”
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