Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key wants to win on the lines of scrimmage and he picked up another big piece for his 2025 offensive line class on Saturday afternoon with the commitment of offensive tackle Damola Ajidahun from Duluth HS.

Ajidahun picked the Jackets over Georgia Tech's arch-rival Georgia who had been the favorite to land the talented lineman since his official visit to Athens in June. The decision came down last week from the talented lineman.

"I was thinking about it and it came down last week, that is when I knew it was going to be Georgia Tech," Ajidahun said. "I was really narrowing my options down and talking to my family and we decided that Georgia Tech was going to be the better decision for us."

The academic piece played a large role in Ajidahun's decision to commit to the Jackets along with the trajectory of the program under head coach Brent Key as he enters his second full season leading Georgia Tech football.

"It all comes down to academics and we are really high on that. Georgia Tech has a really high academic background and we were thinking about how life would be after football with a degree from Georgia Tech and then on the football part we believe in what Coach Key is doing with the program and we really think Georgia Tech is on the rise," he said. "I feel like I'm a part of something, the start of a dynasty. I feel like I can get my name etched in stone there and that is important to me."

Being set up for life after football is something that weighed heavily on the Ajidahun family and Damola said that was a big plus for the Jackets over UGA.

"I was thinking of majoring in business and obviously business is the heart of Atlanta and all the Fortune 500 companies are around there. There are a lot of good things in Atlanta and being able to connect with companies such as CNN and stuff like that there are endless possibilities of what you can do at Georgia Tech so that was really an important factor," he said.

Having Key a former longtime offensive line coach as his head coach is something else that Ajidahun said is a big plus for the Jackets.

"I was watching them practice one time and Coach Key took over half the line just to go over the drill and they were working on the same thing that Coach Geep (Wade) was working on so I thought it was cool to be able to see that as a head coach, he was involved in the protection of his quarterback and how to help his running back out to get those yards. I think it is amazing to have that kind of connection with a head coach," he said.

The relationship with Geep Wade who will be his offensive line coach on the Flats is something that Ajidahun sees as a special opportunity in college.

"Coach Geep, I can only speak the best of him. He is just a great person and he also cares about your well-being and cares about you outside of football and I feel like that is really important for a coach to able to do to care for you outside of football. I feel like once you have that relationship outside of football like that then the relationship inside of football is even that much greater," he said. "He has developed some good people so I feel like he is a really great coach."

The transition to Tech should be an easy one for Ajidahun as well since Duluth runs a similar scheme to what offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and Wade have offensively and what the offensive line does respectively.

"What they do offensively schematically and what I feel like we do at Duluth High School is a match. I feel like I'll be able to just pick up the new words and it is really the same offensive concepts. I think it will be a smooth transition and I am going to be ahead in some aspects when I join the team in January or December," he said.

Ajidahun also told JOL he plans to put on his recruiting hat to help bring another coveted offensive tackle to the Flats, Fellowship Christian School lineman Josh Petty. Petty is down to Tech and FSU and Ajidahun wants him on the Flats with him.

"I have a great relationship with Josh Petty and I'll be trying to get him over to Tech. Now that I am committed I can work on him and find out what he is thinking and try to get him over to Tech," Ajidahun said.

Ajidahun will be an early enrollee arriving on the Flats in January.