The 2024 playoffs haven’t started yet. But CFB fans already have a reason to celebrate. Week 0 isn’t usually dramatic, but this is where the madness of the season sets in. All credit goes to Brent Key and his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team, which landed itself in the winner’s circle by crushing No. 10 Florida State. It was enough to earn the label “NFL stuff” from one renowned analyst. After one of the darkest periods in program history, Georgia Tech could hit the rebound button under Key’s leadership.

Since 2015, the Yellow Jackets’ winning streak has been poor and they had become a laughing stock under former HC Geoff Collins. The dry spell is finally over, because on August 24, Keys Stamm secured the victory and defeated the Florida State Seminoles 24:21 in Dublin, Ireland. That was fascinating enough for the Focused on college football Podcast to listen to. Guest and analyst Brian Smith couldn’t help but call their big win “awesome.” However, it wasn’t easy at first, but they eventually got their act together.

Smith could not help but enjoy the game-winning trick, “The last-second safety reminds me of DJ (Uiagalelei) now, who is also a graduate. He saw everything fall apart and they rotated on defense with a safety, which is NFL stuff. You don’t see that very often at a Georgia Tech, they don’t have a very good defense.”

Finally, the Seminoles had banked on their biggest weapon, senior quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. The athlete completed 19 of 27 passes for 193 yards and tied the game at 21-21 in the fourth quarter. From there, Key’s army dashed any hope Mike Norvell’s team had. Georgia Tech let the final 6:33 minutes tick away. And guess who turned out to be the game changer? It was Aidan Birr, who kicked a 44-yard walk-off field goal. Here, HC Key deserves credit for reinforcing the team’s fight-or-flight mode.

A look at Georgia Tech’s season under Brent Key’s leadership

Key is entering his second consecutive full season as coach. And he has helped the Yellow Jackets turn things around, especially after they faced a downturn in the Collins era. The fiery coach has instilled an edgy attitude in his squad that has previously led to improbable victories over Miami and North Carolina. And with him, Key has ushered in tremendous growth.

By the numbers, the Yellow Jackets were 10-28 over three years with Collins at the helm and covered their 7-19 mark in conference play. And here are the numbers from Keys’ era. The new HC took over in 2022 and after just four games of the season, Georgia Tech immediately reached an overall record of 11-10 and 9-6 in the ACC.

The Yellow Jackets have taken a cue from Brent Key’s strength as a HC, who also had a contagious influence at Georgia Tech, and restructured their team to fix their leaky defense. They brought in Tyler Santucci from Duke as their new DC, who had led the Blue Devils in helping them reach a 16th national ranking. Let’s see what else Key can pull out of the hat!