Fact or Fiction: Brent Key has done enough to earn the Georgia Tech job
Rivals national recruiting analyst Ryan Wright along with national analyst Clint Cosgrove, Kelly Quinlan from JacketsOnline.com and Frank Tucker from CanesCounty.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Big Ten teams would benefit from recruiting Florida and Georgia harder.
Wright’s take: FACT. Ohio State has eight players in the 2023 class from Georgia and Florida heading to Columbus, all five- and four-stars; how great will that team be in a couple of years? Many of the Buckeyes’ recent all-conference and All-Americans, like the Bosa brothers and Justin Fields, just to name a few, are from the Southeast.
In the 2019 cycle, Michigan made the Southeast a priority landing seven. Penn State goes into the area consistently with mixed results but makes the effort. Under Mel Tucker, Florida is definitely a prized recruiting ground. Outside of the aforementioned, it seems most Big Ten teams drop offers on Florida and Georgia players never to be heard from again.
Regional bias, but there is so much talent in the area, many of the three-star Southeast players would be on a different level in most Big Ten states. Those extra athletes on the field make a big difference on the scoreboard. More effort should be put into the region by Big Ten programs.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. I do believe the on-field product would be better if Big Ten schools could consistently land the top talent out of Georgia and Florida but beating SEC team's at their own recruiting game is hard to do unless your mascot is a Buckeye, Wolverine or Nittany Lion.
You either have to be a blueblood program with the resources to beat the Alabama and Georgia's of the world or do a great job of consistently identifying difference makers that are overlooked by the major southern programs in order to have a ton of success recruiting these states. This can be done as Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and others from the Big Ten have landed game changers from Georgia and Florida in recent years and I do believe every program from the conference needs to spot recruit both states, but at the same time it is often an uphill battle for Midwest schools to focus all of their resources on recruiting any area where they play second fiddle.
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2. Brent Key has done enough to earn the full-time head coaching position at Georgia Tech.
Wright’s take: FICTION. In the three losses this season under former head coach Geoff Collins, the margin of defeat was 30 points with the Yellow Jackets looking absolutely lost. Interim head coach made an immediate difference winning conference games against Pitt and Duke only to lose back-to-back games against Virginia and Florida State with the game against the Cavaliers (3-6) being winnable.
The Yellow Jackets (4-5) have three games left to get to the magical six-win mark to make a bowl. We can scratch the possibility of beating Georgia in the season finale, leaving must-win games against Miami and North Carolina.
To this point, Key has done a great job making Georgia Tech competitive, and the staff has held together their recruiting class making moves along the way with the expectation of being in the building next year. To get over that hump removing the interim tag, Key must win out in his conference games. Fans love Key, and it is understandable, but if the Yellow Jackets miss out on a chance to go bowling, a higher profile head coach could steal the job away from Key.
Quinlan’s take: Brent Key is a great guy, but he needs to notch another win or two to really show his ability to move the needle and that will be difficult with the remaining games on the schedule other than Miami. A win over Miami and a close game with UNC might do the trick, but a lot depends on how new AD J Batt views progress and who he has in mind for the job. Batt is a first-time AD and worked with Key at Alabama so how that all plays out will be an interesting piece of this process as well. No one will work hard to be successful than Key at his alma mater, but the last three-plus years under Collins left a bad taste in a lot of mouths around the program who want a clean slate for a new coach. That is probably the biggest obstacle right now.
Key has done an impressive job as the interim coach turning things around, especially after losing star quarterback Jeff Sims to a foot injury at the end of the Duke game, but a bowl bid would go a long way toward giving him some momentum to keep the job. Recruiting has been tough given the uncertainty as well so a few wins on that front might help improve his chances as well.
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3. Miami has more splash recruits to land in the 2023 recruiting class.
Wright’s take: FICTION. The commitment heard around the recruiting universe was five-star corner Cormani McClain heading to Miami over Florida. Can the Canes keep the ball rolling? Maybe but doubtful. There are hopes of landing five-star IMG defensive end Samuel M’Pemba, who has yet to take his official to Miami, and Massachusetts five-star offensive tackle Samson Okunlola. For months, Okunlola has been considered a heavy lean to Miami while M’Pemba is considered a lean to Georgia. Outside of Okunlola, unless a big flip happens, no other Rivals100 prospects are expected to commit to Miami.
On the upside, keeping stud four-star defensive end Rueben Bain home would be a huge win. If Miami can somehow get five-star receiver Brandon Inniss to change his mind flipping him away from Ohio State, that would win all action around the Early Signing Period.
Tucker’s take: FACT. Miami is in prime position to finish this 2023 class off with a bang. Five-star offensive tackle Samson Okunlola looks like a lock for Miami and was in great spirits with Miami's recruits after the Florida State game, despite the result. Four-star cornerback Damari Brown has family ties to Miami and seems to be getting closer and closer to picking the Canes. I would not be surprised to see local defensive end Rueben Bain or Florida commit wide receiver Andy Jean end up in this class, as well.