Things just keep getting better for Georgia Tech. This week, the Yellow Jackets signed one of their highest-ranked recruiting classes in program history, reportedly signed AD J Batt to a contract extension, and now according to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Georgia Tech head football coach Brent Key is getting a contract extension. According to Thamel, it is a five-year contract extension that will run through the 2029 season, gives him two additional years, and includes a significant pay raise. Per Thamel "The deal takes him from the bottom range of the ACC at $2.9 million and is expected to put him in the middle-tier of the league. He's 18-15 overall and led Georgia Tech to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in a decade."
The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Chad Bishop confirmed that both Brent Key and athletic director J Batt have had their extensions approved.
Key has done a fantastic job since taking over as the interim head coach after Geoff Collins was fired in the middle of the 2022 season. Key nearly rallied the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game after taking over and got Georgia Tech ranked wins over Pitt and North Carolina. Not only that, he was competitive against a Georgia team that went on to win the national championship.
After being named the head coach following the 2022 season, Key went to work in trying to build a winning team and program. He landed Haynes King in the transfer portal and hired Buster Faulkner away from Georgia to be the offensive coordinator. The Yellow Jackets would pull off more ranked wins in 2023, beating Miami on a miraculous last second play and beating North Carolina for a second consecutive season. He lead his team to a win over Syracuse in November and that clinched the Yellow Jackets first bowl bid since 2018. Key got the Yellow Jackets within eight points of No. 1 Georgia, the first time that game had been decided by single digits since the Yellow Jackets last victory in the series in 2016. Georgia Tech would end the 2023 season with a win in the Gasparilla bowl over UCF, giving them a winning season and their first bowl win since 2016.
Georgia Tech sits at 7-5 after the conclusion of the 2024 season and Key continued to upset ranked opponents, beating No. Florida State to start the year and later ending No. 4 Miami's unbeaten season and keeping them out of the ACC Championship and College Football Playoff. Last Friday, it looked like Key and Georgia Tech were going to finally end the losing streak to their rivals, but lost in eight overtimes. He is 6-1 against ranked ACC teams during his time at Georgia Tech and they are on the right track.
This is huge for the direction of Georgia Tech Football and Georgia Tech athletics. They are aligned from top to bottom with president Angel Cabrera, Batt, and Key leading the way and now both Batt and Key are locked up for the long term. A lot of improvement has been in a lot of areas for the program.
This summer, Georgia Tech had some huge fundraising news and a lot of that is due to Batt.
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund, Georgia Tech athletics' fundraising arm has contributed a record $78,197,499 to Tech athletics during the 2024 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. The $78 million-plus raised shattered the previous record for single-year A-T Fund donations and represents a 161% year-over-year increase.
"As the landscape of college athletics shifts and the financial resources needed to compete for championships at the highest level increase, we are so grateful for our donors stepping up to the plate and making a record-breaking impact on Tech athletics," Georgia Tech director of athletics J Batt said. "An extraordinary level of donor engagement is vital to our goal of fielding one of the nation's elite athletics programs, and through their record contributions in 2023-24, our A-T Fund donors have shown that they are eager to be a part of the exciting, long-term future of Tech athletics. On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, we thank everyone who invested in our student-athletes and teams through your A-T Fund donation in 2023-24, and encourage everyone to help keep the momentum going through contributions to the A-T Fund, The Tech Way and the purchase of season tickets in 2024-25."
Batt deserves a lot of credit for this amount raised. When he was hired as the Athletic Director back in 2022, he had a reputation for being a great fundraiser at Alabama, where he previously worked. He has put those skills to work for Georgia Tech and it is paying off with this news over the summer.
Of the $78 million-plus contributed in cash and pledges to the A-T Fund during the 2024 fiscal year, nearly 90% came in the form of non-seat related gifts, including more than 20 gifts of $1 million or more.
In addition to being a 161% increase from FY23, the $78 million-plus raised in FY24 is 43% more than the previous A-T Fund single-year record of $55,559,723 raised in 2019-20.
"This year's results reflect the strong legacy of Georgia Tech athletics and the present-day passion our alumni, fans and community have to see our student-athletes excel and our teams win," Georgia Tech vice president for development Jen Howe said. "We look forward to continuing to work with J and his team to bring increased support to athletics that allows us to take on the changing NCAA landscape."
While there is a lot changing in collegiate athletics, having the right person to guide the program is essential and so far, Batt has done that for Georgia Tech.
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