Brent Key explains 'dad joke' he learned at Alabama that Georgia Tech players mock him about

If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out. On Tuesday at the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff, Georgia Tech offensive lineman Jordan Williams did his best impression of head coach Brent Key‘s infamous “dad joke.”

“He will walk into a meeting room, probably be all mad, slinging stuff and everything. But then, he’ll be like, ‘Hey, man, how are you feeling?’ [We’ll say] good. [Then, he says,] ‘Good? You feel with your hands,'” Williams said.

Not exactly peak comedy. Nonetheless, Key’s bonding strategies have worked in the past. Prior to joining the Yellow Jackets, Key was offensive line coach at Alabama. While there, Key boosted the Tide to two SEC championships, three College Football Playoff championship games and the 2017 national title.

Key claims he picked up the corny joke during his time in Tuscaloosa.

“[The joke] came from a player’s mind at the last place I was at. They had the worst dad jokes at 21. But those guys, I’d always walk in, ‘Hey guys, how you feeling?’ Key recalled. “They’d look up at me and go with our hands coach.’

“Then it carried over to pregame. I was like, ‘How you guys feeling?’ They’re like, ‘With our hands’ and I was like, ‘They’re good to go.’ So, I just kind of carried along with us. It was a running joke inside the O-line room and, all the sudden, you move a couple offices down the hallway, and everybody knows about it.”

Now, Key is carrying on the joke as head coach. Although this will be the 44-year-old’s first full season at the helm, Key became the interim head coach midway through last season. He led the Yellow Jackets to a 4-4 record over the final eight games of the season.

Despite facing limited preparation time, Key exhibited promise. His four triumphs included two road victories over nationally ranked opponents – a 26-21 win at No. 24 Pitt in his first game at the helm on Oct. 1 and a 21-17 win at No. 11 North Carolina on Nov. 19.

With a clean slate in 2023, Key wants to see even more improvement from his team.

“We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to get better at. You talk about the continuation of last season, but I don’t see it that way. Every season is a new season. We have new players. We have new coaches. It’s a new program.

“Do you have a little bit of insight and knowledge previously on the roster and strengths and weakens and things to improve on? Yeah, but it’s a constant evaluation of your roster. It’s a constant evaluation of the staff. It’s a constant evaluation of every part of the program that needs to improve. I don’t care if you win 15 games or lose 15 games in a year, there’s always things to improve on. That’s my job,” Key said.