Georgia Tech suffers brutal coaching loss ahead of Yellow Jackets' ACC sleeper season

No way around it, this is quite significant for the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech. Brent Key is undoubtedly the right man for the job to lead the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in this new era of college football. He played for George O'Leary in the 1990s. After having survived whatever we want to define the Geoff Collins era of Georgia Tech football, Key has the Yellow Jackets ready to take over.

However, he probably did not envision losing one of his best assets after only one season. That is right. Former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci leaves Atlanta after just one year to become the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens. This is his first job in the NFL, having served under the likes of Key, Mike Elko, Jimbo Fisher and Dave Clawson in his budding coaching career.

Honestly, you cannot really blame Santucci for striking while the iron is hot. However, this is such a crushing blow for an on-the-rise contender in the ACC next year. After Clemson at the top of the league, I had Georgia Tech in the same group of teams with Louisville, Miami and I guess SMU as the Tigers' most formidable contenders in league play. Losing Santucci certainly knows Tech back a bit.

Georgia Tech still has its stud offensive coordinator in Buster Faulkner for this season, but this hurts.

Key has gone 7-6 in his first two seasons since being the full-time head coach leading his alma mater.

Georgia Tech loses DC Tyler Santucci to Baltimore Ravens coaching staff

There are so many reasons why Key is the perfect head coach for Georgia Tech. He played there and saw the program operate at a high level under O'Leary that could be replicated in the modern era of college football. This is a big deal for him, which is a necessity for Georgia Tech to cut through some of the nonsense that gets in the way of it being the top-tier athletic program it used to be previously.

Besides being the right face for the program, Key has done an incredible job of surrounding himself with the best coaching talent possible. Yes, he has done a far better job of recruiting than many of his predecessors, but coaching is what will help close the gap. Being ahead of the curve on an up-and-comer like Santucci is even more proof that this slow and methodical build at Georgia Tech will work.

Unfortunately, Santucci's departure for the NFL after only one season further illustrates the problems at hand for Georgia Tech. Other teams suffer coaching attrition like this all the time, but you do hate to see a great investment like this only be of the one-year variety. My fear is that Faulkner will be gone after this season and Key will have to deal with even more coaching attrition this soon into his tenure.

Georgia Tech should still be highly competitive next year, but this loss limits their ceiling considerably.