The Birmingham Bowl is a long-awaited homecoming for Georgia Tech coach Brent Key

“Brent was always number 1, he always worked extremely hard. That’s probably one thing that stands out to me the most,” Wood told the AJC. “He worked in the weight room and the track program in the offseason. He kept getting better with everything he did. And he worked really hard in the classroom. He was a very good student and that is the most important thing there. He was a good teammate. I think that’s how the others saw him there, and for me that’s the ultimate.”

Key developed into a pretty good offensive lineman despite only weighing 225 pounds as a senior. His work in the classroom and on the field earned him a scholarship offer to play for Tech.

In 1996 he left Alabama and went to Atlanta.

“I can still see it in my head. I was upstairs in his room packing, and he was up there with several of his friends because they were all so happy for him,” Donna remembers. “I was kind of sad and he was like, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal.’ I’m just going over to school. I’ll be back all the time.’ He wasn’t.”

Key’s work ethic didn’t waver in Atlanta. Between training, playing and studying, Key needed to earn extra money, so he worked as a pressure washer for decks and windows as a junior, then as part of the security team at a concert hall as a senior.

Nineteen years after Key played his final game at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Key returned to Tech to serve as his alma mater’s offensive line coach. In 2022, he was named the program’s interim coach after eight games of that season before being given the title of full-time coach in November of that year.

Now Key has a chance to lead the Jackets to eight wins in a season for the first time since 2016. An eighth win could come in the same city where Key, alongside Martin, saw his first college football game in person: the 1985 All-American Bowl between Tech and Michigan State at Legion Field.

“This means the world to me, the family and the friends that will be around me,” Key admitted earlier this month. “Birmingham is college football. It’s always been like that. Playing in a bowl game here is really special.”

As for Wood, he said he will be at the game on Friday. Tech offensive lineman Jordan Williams and defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg said the veteran coach explained to the team before the matchup with Vanderbilt the importance of hard work and effort, traits Wood recognized early on as a young Key.

However, Donna will not be able to take part in the game as she recovers from two surgeries. But she will have some family friends over to watch it on TV and help her cheer on her son, one of Birmingham’s sons.