Former Texas A&M transfer QB Haynes King named starting QB for Georgia Tech opener

Former Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King took his talents to Georgia Tech via the NCAA Transfer Portal earlier this offseason, and it looks like the move paid off.

The Yellow Jackets have made it official that King will be their stating quarterback, according to Kelly Quinlan of Rivals and Yahoo Sports.

“Haynes King will be the starting QB for Louisville for #GaTech,” tweeted Quinlan on Tuesday.

Coming out of high school, King was a four-star prospect out of Longview (Texas) and played in six games this year for the Aggies, throwing for 1,220 yards and seven touchdowns. He also threw six interceptions.

On the ground, King rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown on 41 carries. He battled through some injuries and performance issues this season and was eventually replaced by former five-star quarterback Conner Weigman.

The former Texas A&M quarterback has three years of eligibility remaining with Georgia Tech, where he’s hoping to build a name for himself.

According to Quinlan, it was an eight-month process to figure out Georgia Tech’s starting quarterback, but he reiterated, “This is black and white and (Key) isn’t going to sugarcoat the QB thing. It is direct and they explained the why to them.”

Brent Key addresses expectations for Georgia Tech: ‘It’s a new program’

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key has been around the program for a long time. He was first a player for the team before becoming a graduate assistant and then an assistant coach.

Now, Key is starting his first season as the team’s full-time head coach. He said Tuesday at ACC Media Days that observers should expect a new team this year.

“We’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to get better at,” Key said. “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.”

It was a difficult run for former head coach Geoff Collins with the Yellow Jackets. He won just three games each of his first three years on the job before he was fired in the middle of the 2022 season.

Key replaced him, going 4-4 the rest of the way and leading to him earning the full-time role as the head coach of the Georgia Tech program.

“I don’t care if you win 15 games or lose 15 games in a year, there’s always things to improve on,” Key said. “That’s my job. My job is to find those things, to focus on the small things, to focus on the details, and to focus on what makes a difference in winning and losing. So really from the top-down every part of the program is a constant state of working to get better, improving — it starts with improving your staff, improving your roster, improving in the weight room, strength and conditioning, improving your fundamental play in football, improving every position across the board. I mean, there’s only one way to go, and that’s up. That’s the way you have to trend.”