published on May 30, 2024 in celeb

Discerning whats real: Brent Keys journey back to Georgia Tech

Brent Key was about six weeks into the life he thought he wanted.

After being a player and graduate assistant under then-Georgia Tech head coach George O’Leary, Key decided it was time to venture out into the “real world,” and in his case, that was a world without football.

At that time, he recalled not knowing what the “real world” was.

“Hell, I don’t know. I had no clue,” he said.

But Key got a taste of it, and with that taste, he soon realized that wasn’t what he wanted … far from it.

“It took me about six weeks of waking up every morning and tying that tie to realize that I was a football coach,” Key said.

But what he didn’t know then that he knows now, nearly 15 years later, is that once you leave the coaching ranks, it’s difficult to find your way back in, unless you have someone on the inside, someone who can vouch for you. Key didn’t need a large network. He just needed Geoff Collins.

It was Aug. 1, 2004. Why could Key remember that date so precisely? It’s his birthday, and on that day, Key’s phone rang. Collins was on the other end. The two were close, so it probably wasn’t that far-fetched to think Collins would be calling.

Collins and Key met and developed a player-coach type of relationship when Collins was a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech during Key’s last couple of years playing for the Yellow Jackets. After his playing days ended, Key took over as a graduate assistant under O’Leary while Collins was hired full-time as the tight ends coach. In those first few years, Key said Collins helped him, showing him the ropes while also laying a foundation for a lasting friendship.

So, of course, Collins would call Key. It could have been a call to wish Key a happy birthday, but it wasn’t (although maybe Collins did slide in a “Happy birthday” into the call). The call was made to give Key the opportunity to get back into the world of coaching with Collins, who was working at Western Carolina at the time.

“We have a restricted-earnings spot to coach running backs and tight ends,” Key remembered Collins saying to him over the phone. “Before you say yes or no, I just want you to know that it’s not great pay; the housing situation isn’t really great as far as where you would live, either.”

But the offer to get back into coaching was all Key needed. Key and Collins hung up the phone that day, and instead of celebrating his birthday, Key began packing. He loaded up his Jeep Cherokee with hastily packed boxes and bags, said goodbye to his roommates and was gone. He pulled out onto I-285 and headed north to Cullowhee, N.C. Sight unseen, Key was taking a chance.

As his birthday drew to an end, Key rolled into this new town and stopped at Speedy’s Pizza. Inside the brick exterior of the pizzeria sat Collins and his wife, Jennifer, awaiting Key’s arrival. There were probably a couple of hugs, maybe even a “Happy Birthday, Brent” or two, and there was likely plenty of talk about the new job.

It was a welcome that Key always will remember. It wasn’t particularly special, just three friends on a hot August night splitting a pizza at Speedy’s in North Carolina. But it changed the trajectory of Key’s life. The next day, Key was coaching college football.

He had found his place in the “real world” he wanted, after all.

The passing of time, changing of circumstances

While much is different since that day in August almost 15 years ago, the bond between Key and Collins has grown stronger. What can be said about the countless Super Bowls the two have watched together? Or the fact that Collins was at Key’s wedding? Or what about the fact that their daughters, both still so young, get to grow up alongside one another?

A lot can be said about their bond outside of the coaching ranks, but it’s their bond within football that means the most for Georgia Tech.

Key believes in what Collins is trying to do at Georgia Tech. He believes Collins is changing the culture, the structure and the way people think about the Institute’s football program. That belief is evident in the way Key speaks.

“It’s real, guys. This is real,” Key said as passion built in his voice. “For us to change the mindset that people have of what Georgia Tech is in the scope of college football, that’s what Coach Collins is here for. That’s what we are here for with him. That’s what we believe in. I know in different eyes, (Georgia Tech) is seen as different. But that’s what we see this place as. That’s what we feel it as.

“It’s not a vision that’s going to be something that’s going to go dead in six months, 12 months, 24 months. This is real. This is real. And one day at a time, one person at a time, one mind at a time, we will change the way people think about Georgia Tech football.”

Brent Key, right, worked in several different positions for George O’Leary at Central Florida. (Kim Klement / USA Today)

It’s no secret Key left Alabama to work at his alma mater and to work alongside Collins again. It’s no secret that Key didn’t really think he would be returning to Georgia Tech, saying he learned a long time ago that coaches have to be happy where they are. A long time ago, Key made a commitment to himself that he wasn’t going to look for that next job. He was going to focus on the task at hand.

But circumstances have changed. He is back at Georgia Tech, the place that he said molded him into the man, father, husband, coach and teacher he is today. It’s the place of memories for him.

Longtime Georgia Tech baseball head coach Danny Hall recalls the years Key was in school. Key and a group of his friends would sit right above the visiting team’s dugout during baseball season, heckling the Yellow Jackets’ opponents incessantly.

Key still carries that same competitive mentality and love for this one place with him.

“I don’t want anybody to take this the wrong way, but to be honest, I haven’t recruited against Georgia Tech in a long time,” Key said. “That’s a shame that I do say that because I do love this place. I am so fond of this place. Hell, this place is the most special place in the world. To sit here and say that people would say anything negative about it, hell everything goes on in recruiting. Recruiting is a war. It is an absolute battleground every single day. People are going to have words and say things, but you know what? I went through this place. This place made me who I am today. I know the truth about this place.”

When it was officially announced that Key was returning to Georgia Tech, he likely had questions hurled at him from curious minds about the move away from Alabama:

“Brent, why leave Alabama for Tech?”

“How are you going to recruit to Georgia Tech different than you were at Alabama?”

The answer?

“It’s going to be easier. It’s going to be so much easier. I’ve got more to offer. Tuscaloosa-Atlanta. Outstanding academics. We wake up every morning, look what’s in our hands — technology, technology, technology,” he said going down the row, picking up recorders and cell phones before him in his first Georgia Tech news conference. “And look where we are at — in the epicenter of it all.”

This is Key’s reality now. For the next few years, his mission is to change the way people think about Georgia Tech football. In the closing minutes of his news conference as Georgia Tech’s newest assistant head coach, run game coordinator and offensive line coach, Key was asked officially, on the record, why he did leave Alabama for Georgia Tech. His answer was pointed and direct.

“It’s home, and I can guarantee you this: When we are done changing the culture under the vision of what Coach Collins wants to do, no one will ever ask that question again,” he said.

Key’s journey back to Georgia Tech may not have been a journey he foresaw or even hoped would happen, but now that he’s back, he’s working toward the goal of changing this program for the better.

At the end of the day, Key isn’t alone in this battle. He has Collins, and the two are working together once more to fulfill this goal. Both have come a long way since splitting a pizza at Speedy’s on Aug. 1, 2004 — a day Key knows he’ll likely never forget.

(Photo of Brent Key, right: Nelson Chenault / USA Today)

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