After back-to-back bowl appearances, the Jackets enter year three under head coach Brent Key with a chance to make noise in the ACC. The past two seasons have taken the Jackets through huge wins, heartbreaking losses and a helluva lot of memories. If you’re a RAT — consider this your football FASET. Brought to you by the Technique Sports Section, here is what you need to know about the Jackets heading into the 2025 college football season.
On the coaching front, where Brent Key is now a mainstay on the Flats, and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner just signed a $1.5 million per year extension, there have been winds of change defensively in new defensive coordinator Blake Gideon.
Gideon comes to campus after a 4-year tenure as safeties coach for the University of Texas Longhorns — a spell in which they won a Big 12 Championship and reached the College Football Playoff twice. Football is a team sport, but Gideon played a big part in this success, winning national position coach of the year twice.
So, how can we expect the Jackets to play under the guidance of Key, Faulkner and Gideon in 2025?
First, Coach Key’s principles, founded on his idea of “the Tech man”, will continue to define the entire program: discipline, toughness, commitment and execution. If nothing else, a Brent Key football team will be physical. Regardless of players, schemes and situations, you will watch Jackets hit hard and run through people. These pillars provide the foundation on which Faulkner and Gideon will build up their units.
Offensively, Faulkner will emphasize elements of speed, versatility and creativity.
“We go fast here at Georgia Tech, okay?… We want smart guys that are versatile that can do a bunch of different things; … we want to make sure that we’re giving the defense several pictures with what we do,” Faulkner said in a summer press conference. The Jackets will utilize motion to change their look right before the snap, giving the defense no time to react. They aren’t scared to run the ball in many ways, most notably with quarterback Haynes King, nor do they shy away from throwing long. Faulkner and Key have worked together to revitalize the offense, and it has resulted in a productive and entertaining unit.
Switching gears — how will the Jackets line up on defense under Gideon after previous coordinator Tyler Santucci made his way to the NFL? Going off Gideon’s word, expect to see a unit that plays with passion, balancing instincts with scheme requirements and quickly recovering from mistakes. A baseline level of effort will be expected from every player, but it will be important to avoid penalties — a strength the Jackets will look to maintain from last season. On the balance between scheme and instinct, Gideon spoke about the importance of knowing one’s job while having the confidence to deviate to make game-breaking plays. It is a difficult equilibrium to strike, but Gideon has the experience to coach it into existence.
Finally, Gideon wants to put an end to Tech’s bad habit of letting mistakes compound. The unit won’t play perfect every down — no one can — but it is crucial to bend without breaking. If the Jackets can execute on these three points, their potential is sky high.
This said, in college football “it’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the Jimmy’s and Joe’s,” or — in our case — the Hayneses. The success of the schemes that Key, Faulkner and Gideon put out will be determined in large part by our players. Here are a few to keep an eye on in 2025:
Haynes is a name you will hear many times on the flats. quarterback Haynes King and running back Jamal Haynes have been the beating heart of the offense for the last two seasons. King is entering his final year already having made himself a cult hero. He will continue to excel in both throwing and running and is ranked the second best quarterback in the ACC by The Sporting News. If he stays healthy and continues limiting turnovers, the Jackets can’t be counted out of any game.
Ever since Jamal Haynes moved from wide receiver to running back in 2023, he has been a phenomenon. On the pre-season watch lists for the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards, he will look to improve on his 1,110 all-purpose yards mark from 2024, remaining a versatile offensive force.
Outside of the Hayneses, Tech is building with youth and experience at skill positions and on the line. Returning senior Malik Rutherford will lead the WR room, teaming up with 2024 AP All-American Eric Rivers — a huge transfer coup from Florida International.
Guards Keylan “Big Red” Rutledge and Joe Fusile will anchor the line — both recognized at the conference level. They will mentor prospects Josh Petty and Peyton Joseph, 5 and 4-star recruits respectively. As expected with Key’s roots as a former offensive lineman, Tech will continue to build from the inside out.
Rounding out the offense is the tight end room, looking to compensate for losing Jackson Hawes to the NFL. Luke Harpring, Brett Seither and Josh Beetham will contribute in the blocking game and in space, as they are often creatively used by Faulkner.
Pivoting to Gideon’s unit — who should we watch out for on defense?
Since coming to the Institute from Penn State, Jordan van den Berg has been a sensation on the defensive line and will look to improve on his second-team All-ACC nod from 2024. He will line up next to Georgia native Akelo Stone, who is returning to Tech after two seasons at Ole Miss. These two will provide the foundation to Gideon’s defense by stopping the run and getting pressure on the quarterback.
The linebackers will be led by budding star Kyle Efford, who is poised to go up another level from his 2024 season as the Jackets leading tackler. He will pair with E.J. Lightsey, who will build on his highlight reel that already includes a critical pick-6 in a 30-29 win against NC State last year.
The secondary will be led by the trio of Amari Harvey, Rodney Shelley and Clayton Powell-Lee — someone who Gideon will look to build a connection with as a world class safeties coach.
With these characters leading the way, let’s walk through season-defining themes and the schedule ahead.
Offensively, this season should continue last year’s emphasis on establishing the run early and effectively. King is a do-it-all mobile quarterback who isn’t afraid of putting his body on the line for his team — recall his 110-yard, 3-touchdown rushing performance against u[sic]GA last year. Thus, the team knows they can lean on him to make plays with his legs.
King’s running ability naturally opens the door for Haynes to have another great season from the backfield after he put up 944 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns last season. Haynes is an explosive running back who can singlehandedly turn the tides of the game by making a big play, like when he ran for 68 yards to beat the Tarheels at the University of North Carolina.
On defense, the team should look to increase takeaways, as they dipped in production last season and, as most teams do, found more success when they had a takeaway in the game. The defense has played well in big moments, such as a clutch strip sack to seal the win against then undefeated University of Miami last year. For a team full of hope this year, the defense will look to have more big plays like that.
The Jackets have a favorable schedule this season. Other than Clemson, they avoid most of the top teams in the ACC. Their two most difficult games will be against Clemson and u[sic]GA. If they can win one of them, they’ll establish themselves as a threat this season. Both teams found themselves in the top 10 of the preseason coaches poll (the Bulldogs ranked 4th and the Tigers ranked 6th).
Another key game will be the season opener against Coach Deion Sanders and the University of Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, Aug. 29. Sanders brings a lot of media attention to the Buffaloes, so a win in Colorado while the lights are brightest to start the year would be a sign of good things to come.
An optimistic (but not too farfetched) view would have the Jackets winning 11 games next year. This predicts the team winning every game they should win, every toss-up and taking one win away from their games against u[sic]GA and Clemson. More realistically, they could easily find themselves with between eight and 10 wins this season. The ACC is not a weak conference, so while their schedule avoided most of the top threats, teams like Duke and Syracuse could put up a good fight.
As offensive stars King and Haynes enter their final year of eligibility, they will look to make the most out of this season, both for themselves to boost their NFL stock and for Key’s tightly knit team.
After Tech lost Eric Singleton Jr. to Auburn in the transfer portal, Rutherford, Rivers and the team’s receiving corps will take on his targets and look to not miss a beat.
As a team, the Jackets know that the sky’s the limit if they perform well. An exciting offense and an improving defense can bring the team to its highest point so far in Key’s tenure.