Donald Brent Key (born August 1, 1978) is an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach and former player. Key is currently the head football coach at his alma mater,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Playing career

Key grew up in

Trussville, Alabama Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was 26,123. Geography Trussvi ...

, a suburb of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He attended and played football at

Hewitt-Trussville High School Hewitt-Trussville High School (HTHS) is a four-year public high school in the city of Trussville, Alabama. It is the only high school in Trussville City Schools and is named for the early local educator Robert Hewitt. School colors are red and gra ...

. Key played

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, starting all four years.

Coaching career

While as an assistant coach at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF), Key was selected to be the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

George O'Leary George Joseph O'Leary (born August 17, 1946) is a former American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets from 1994 to 2001 and the UCF Knights from 2004 to 2015 ...

following his retirement. Following the 2013 season in which UCF won the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

, Key reportedly declined the head coaching job at UAB to remain with the Knights. Prior to being hired at Georgia Tech, Key was the offensive line coach at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

for three seasons. Key was hired at Alabama on February 15, 2016, replacing

Mario Cristobal Mario Manuel Cristobal (born September 24, 1970) is head football coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team at the University of Miami. Cristobal previously was the head football coach at Florida International University (FIU) from 2007 to 20 ...

, who remained on staff as tight ends coach. Before his time at Alabama, Key was the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

, assistant head coach, offensive line coach, and recruiting coordinator for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I F ...

. Key played under George O'Leary at Georgia Tech, where he later served as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research respons ...

before joining O'Leary at UCF. Key served as UCF's recruiting coordinator beginning in 2007, in addition to being UCF's offensive line coach. After the 2012 season, Key was promoted to assistant head coach and then to offensive coordinator following the 2013 season. Key was named interim head coach for

in 2022, following the firing of Geoff Collins. He went 4–4 as interim head coach, with his most notable wins being over #24

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and #13

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Because of the team’s improvement during his tenure, the interim tag was taken off on November 29 as Key was named Georgia Tech’s 21st head football coach.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Georgia Tech profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Brent 1978 births Living people American football offensive guards Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players UCF Knights football coaches Western Carolina Catamounts football coaches Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama Coaches of American football from Alabama