Georgia Tech is finalizing a deal to make interim coach Brent Key the program’s full-time head coach, multiple reports indicated Tuesday.
Key, the program’s assistant head coach, offensive line coach and run game coordinator, was given the interim coach title in September after Georgia Tech fired Geoff Collins amid a 1-3 start.
The Yellow Jackets went 4-4 under Key on their way to finishing 5-7 (4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), including a 21-17 upset of then-No. 13 North Carolina on Nov. 19.
Key, 44, is a Georgia Tech alumnus who played right guard for the program from 1997-2000.
“I’m an alumni from here,” Key told ESPN in October. “I really hold this place in super high regard for the lessons that I learned. But this is not one bit about trying to get a job. This is about doing a great job with the job that we have.”
Georgia Tech vetted a number of external candidates, but ESPN reported that the school’s reluctance to guarantee enough money in the contract turned some candidates off.
Tulane coach Willie Fritz was reported to be among the candidates the Yellow Jackets were interested in. Earlier Tuesday, Tulane announced that Fritz informed the school he was staying put.
–Field Level Media