One of the best parts of the Georgia Tech game day experience is seeing the team run out of the tunnel. The smoke, the cheers and Head Coach Brent Key looking every bit like a former Georgia Tech player happy to be back in front of his home crowd.
The Yellow Jackets always seem to emerge from that tunnel with a bit of fire and finesse. It is a fitting description of last year’s team, which included one of the fiercest leaders Georgia Tech has had in recent memory in Haynes King. His tenacity and unwavering commitment to leaving it all on the field helped make last season a special one for the Tech faithful.
King’s final season was one to remember. He was named ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year, finished 10th in Heisman Trophy voting and helped lead Georgia Tech to its first 8-0 start since 1966. The Yellow Jackets climbed as high as No. 7 in the national rankings before ultimately finishing the season 9-4.
King has since moved on to the NFL, and while Tech fans will certainly miss him, there is still plenty to love about this year’s team, including its schedule.
The first three games alone give Georgia Tech just the right blend of opportunity and national exposure to come out of the gates making a statement. Better yet, all three will be played at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Game one is against Head Coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.
Even though Sanders Mania has taken a serious dip in fanfare over the last year, Sanders is still a draw, and he will certainly be one in a city that has long been connected to his football story. That makes Colorado an intriguing opening act for a Georgia Tech team trying to establish its identity in the post-Haynes King era.
Atlanta has not been particularly kind to Sanders as a head coach. During his time at Jackson State, Sanders brought the Tigers to the Celebration Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in consecutive seasons and left Atlanta with losses both times, falling to South Carolina State in 2021 and North Carolina Central in 2022.
Sanders could leave Atlanta with yet another loss if the buzz around this post-King Georgia Tech team is real.
And there is reason for optimism.
Georgia Tech enters the season unranked, but the Yellow Jackets were picked to finish fifth in the ACC preseason poll and received two first-place votes. That is notable for a program that has outperformed its predicted ACC finish in each of Brent Key’s three full seasons as head coach.
A win over Colorado would get Tech to 1-0.
The Tennessee game is where the Yellow Jackets will have their best opportunity to shock the college football world.
Last season, Tech used an early win over Clemson to announce its arrival. The Yellow Jackets entered that game 2-0 before knocking off No. 12 Clemson 24-21 on Aidan Birr’s 55-yard field goal as time expired. The victory gave Georgia Tech its first 3-0 start since 2016 and propelled the Jackets into the national rankings.
At the time, nobody knew exactly what the rest of the season would hold. What was clear was that Georgia Tech suddenly had the nation’s attention.
A win over Tennessee could do the same thing this year.
The Volunteers enter the season ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25, while Georgia Tech sits outside the rankings. That gives the Yellow Jackets an opportunity to earn an early Top 25 victory in front of their home crowd and, perhaps more importantly, prove that the momentum built during the King era did not leave with King.
Colorado provides the spotlight.
Tennessee provides the opportunity to make a statement.
Then comes Mercer.
If Georgia Tech can pull off the first two wins, it would head into its Sept. 19 matchup against Mercer at 2-0. The Yellow Jackets would be expected to win that game, and meeting those expectations would give Tech a 3-0 start before playing its first road game of the season at Stanford.
That is where things could get interesting.
A hot start would bring back some of the same aspirations the program carried last season. Championship aspirations.
The 2025 Yellow Jackets proved just how quickly a strong September can change the perception of a program. Georgia Tech started 8-0 for only the sixth time in its 133-season football history and for the first time since 1966. The Jackets reached No. 7 in the national rankings, their highest regular-season ranking since 2009, and finished tied for second in the ACC.
Now comes the challenge of proving that season was not simply the end of the Haynes King era, but the beginning of something bigger under Brent Key.
This team has that chance.
The major question is whether the Yellow Jackets will capitalize on it.
Only time will tell.
Last year, Georgia Tech came out of the gates swinging, started 8-0 and made the college football world take notice. This year’s team has an opportunity to do it again.
Can the Yellow Jackets shake up the college football world one more time?
With Colorado, No. 20 Tennessee and Mercer coming to Bobby Dodd Stadium to open the season, Tech may not have to wait very long to give us an answer.
