Georgia Tech’s rough season took another sharp turn ahead of Saturday’s trip to Clemson, with Brent Key making a major staff move after the Yellow Jackets slipped to 2-7 and became the first ACC team to lock in a losing season.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “Georgia Tech has dismissed four staff members -- defensive coordinator Jason Semore, defensive ends coach Kyle Pope, offensive line coach Allen Mogridge and wide receivers coach Jafar Williams.” The shakeup adds another layer to a year that has already gone sideways for Key’s program, which has spent the season trying to steady itself after a string of changes on the defensive side.
Georgia Tech’s defense has been caught in a cycle of turnover since Key took over from Geoff Collins, and Semore’s exit means the Yellow Jackets will have a new defensive coordinator for the sixth straight year. That stretch began when Andrew Thacker was not kept on as part of Key’s first full staff in 2023. Since then, the list has run from Thacker to Kevin Sherrer to Tyler Santucci to Blake Gideon to Semore.
The turnover has been especially jarring on defense, even with plenty of attention already paid to former offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s departure to Florida. The constant churn has left Georgia Tech in a difficult spot, and the source material makes clear that this level of coordinator attrition is not sustainable.
Clemson, meanwhile, opened as a 13.5-point favorite over Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Tigers have their own pressure points, because a home loss to the Yellow Jackets would wipe out their slim hopes of reaching Charlotte. Even so, Clemson is still winning games thanks to its defense and special teams, despite an offense that has struggled this season.
The Tigers have also seen the value of keeping key assistants in place. Tom Allen’s second year with the defense has helped push that unit to another level, while Rich Bisaccia’s special teams have drawn attention in his first season in charge. The source also notes that Dabo Swinney will try to retain Chad Morris, a reflection of how much Clemson values stability after watching Georgia Tech deal with the opposite.
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