“But once someone steps out of their own sphere and starts trying to coach somebody else, now you have a kid, or a freshman, being told three different things by three different people, all different. You don’t progress that way. I’m not going to be a coach with 20 to 25 players running around telling players what to do.”
Key added that staff members such as Moggridge, Stewart and Salem have a wealth of coaching knowledge, experience and ability, but their day-to-day employed roles will not change.
As for the younger members of his staff, Coach Key hasn’t asked them to provide much on-field guidance.
“Some of the guys deal with a lot of analytics and scouting reports and helping put practices together. They’re not ready to be coaches yet,” Key added. “I’m not going to get everybody to say, ‘Let’s have everybody try to be Vince Lombardi.’ We’re not going to do that.”
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Knocking on wood
With preseason practices starting this week, the Yellow Jackets appear to be in the healthiest position they’ve been all season. That’s not necessarily a coincidence, Key said.
Key, a former offensive lineman entering his second full season as Tech’s coach, explained how the program continues to rely on available information to ensure players are as injury-free as possible.
“Going into year two, we really have all the data on everybody. We’re incorporating a lot of sports science and we’ve been given the resources to incorporate that into our program. We track everything, we monitor everything.
“When the summer came around this year, we were able to make some tweaks and changes to get us ready to come here, and the last 10 weeks of the summer were simulating a preseason, so we were able to train all summer with the same load as we would have in the preseason, which helped us a lot.”
Next QB (1 day)
Tech’s two-man quarterback lineup is all but set with returning starter Haynes King and backup Zach Pyron still on the team, but Tech has four quarterbacks competing for the No. 3 spot this fall, a crucial spot in the depth chart if the Jackets are forced to turn to a third QB.
“We have two young guys coming in this year, (freshmen) Aaron Filo and Graham Knowles, and the best thing about them is they’re really smart,” Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “They’re really competitive and they’ve got everything you need. They study the game. They have a great coach (Chris Weinke) coaching them, and that helps them a lot.”
“The most important thing for us is we have to have other guys who can play. So now these two are battling for the third spot. We have to have guys who can play. And right now we’re doing that with these two.”
Philo (6-foot-2, 215), who held the Georgia state record for career passing yards while at Prince Avenue Christian College, worked out as the third quarterback in Tech’s first preseason practice on Wednesday. Noles (6-foot-7, 220) comes to Tech from Southlake Carroll, Texas, where he threw for 3,195 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior.
Looking forward to match day
Kickoff is just around the corner at noon on August 24th, but hopefully it comes soon.
Tech linebacker Kyle Efford acknowledged that sense of longing when asked Friday about the team’s game against Florida State in Dublin, Ireland, less than a month away.
“We’re in good shape right now. There’s a fire in our hearts. We’re ready to play and we want to play,” Efford said after the Jackets’ third preseason practice. “We’ve been slowly building up since the summer. We’re in that gray zone right now where we hopefully will be. It’s time to get to work.”
