Michigan State football fans are happy this week. Why? Because there’s no looming game to ruin their weekend. It’s bye week, and fans could not be more excited to tune in to watch Tom Izzo’s team on Saturday night instead of Jonathan Smith’s.
Speaking of Smith, the second-year head coach finds himself on the hot seat with just three games left in the regular season, sitting on a 3-6 overall record.
That hot seat has caused a lot of fans to look elsewhere for help. Fans have been piecing together “candidates to replace Smith” lists, and one name seems to come up often: Brent Key. The Georgia Tech head coach has turned that program around in record time, and it looks like his name is going to come up in a lot of coaching searches.
But why does Michigan State have an advantage? Well, because Key’s good friend and former athletic director at Georgia Tech, J Batt, is now in East Lansing. There’s a relationship there.
Unfortunately for those who were hoping this reunion would happen in East Lansing, Key gave a statement on Thursday about being tied to job openings, and he basically said he bleeds tech gold and white. He shot down any notion that he might be interested in other jobs.
Brent Key weighs in his name coming up for jobs. He was very clear on where he stands. pic.twitter.com/h3qOkC3amD
— Kelly Quinlan (@Kelly_Quinlan) November 6, 2025
Key played right guard at Georgia Tech from 1997-2000 and his return “home” to coach his alma mater feels like a match made in heaven. Yellow Jacket fans love him, he has the ultimate job security, and the program is one of the best in the country this season. The turnaround is going as planned, and he said that he’s been working toward this for his whole life.
Unfortunately, we can probably cross Key off the list. Every coach has a price, though.