Georgia Tech football practice notes and quotes 10/17
ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football held a late morning practice session on Monday with school out on Fall Break this week. After practice, interim head coach Brent Key spoke to the media previewing the Virginia game and he gave some injury updates and staff updates as well after a busy bye week.
Running backs coach Mike Daniels resigned on Friday and Key declined to offer any further details on the situation.
"We wish him the best and we are on to UVA," Key said.
Daniels' departure also opens a slot for a 10th assistant again after he elevated Donald Hill-Eley last week to offensive assistant and special teams assistant. Hill-Eley will now fill Daniels' role as running backs coach opening up another spot in the staff.
"We are still looking at the 10th assistant and we will sit down and make some decisions and put some thought into it after Thursday's game, but right now we don't want anything distracting or taking away from what our ultimate goal is."
Many fans expected Key to have a prior relationship with J Batt the new athletic director at Tech, but Key said his time at Alabama with Batt was spent in the Nick Saban bubble and there was not really a prior relationship.
"I think President Cabrera made a really good hire and we trust him and his decisions. We were at Alabama at the same time, I thought it was a year, but somebody said it was two years, but you have to understand at a place like that you have very little contact with anybody outside of your hallway which is about five people," Key said. "Then you go into the staff room each day and you have contact with about 30 (people) that are all football staff. There are very few times as a coach you have any interactions with other people and it really is a bubble regardless of whether it is here or there. The interactions are not as much as you might think they are."
Key as of his media avail at 12:30 pm had not even had a chance to meet Batt again post-hire because his team was on the practice field already when Batt arrived at Tech Monday morning from Tuscaloosa.
"He just got here today and he just started today. I'm sure at some point he will meet with all the head coaches, but right now I wanted to come to see y'all," Key joked.