Potential MSU coaching candidate comments on job status, future at current school

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

A potential candidate to replace Jonathan Smith at Michigan State made a comment this week that suggest he's not looking for a new gig.

Things have been quiet on the Michigan State football front this week, with the Spartans on a bye. But, many (including myself) still believe Smith will be gone at the end of this season. It's felt that way for weeks, so many (again, including myself) have looked ahead to who could replace Smith should a move be made. One name that has popped up is Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key — who has the Yellow Jackets in the mix for a spot in the College Football Playoff this year. Well, unfortunately, it sounds like he is not in the market for a new job right now.

Key recently told Kelly Quinlan of On3 that if you "slice" him open, you'll see "what colors" he bleeds — which suggests that's gold, blue and white. Key played for Georgia Tech and obviously has a strong connection with the school, which makes it seem like he's not going anywhere.

Click on the post below to read more on Key from Quinlan:

Key is a hot name on the job market for many teams, not just Michigan State. But some felt the connection between Key and Michigan State athletic director J Batt would help the Spartans' chances of luring him away from Georgia Tech. If you didn't already know, Batt was previously the athletic director at Georgia Tech and worked with Key before coming to Michigan State.

This comment from Key could be meaningless, ultimately, as we just saw Smith leave his alma mater of Oregon State to come to Michigan State two years ago. Obviously, that was a different situation with Oregon State being left behind in the dismantling of the Pac-12, but the belief out there is that almost all Big Ten or SEC jobs are considered an upgrade from a gig in the ACC or Big 12. So, it would be certainly interesting should Key turn down an opportunity at a place like Michigan State or Auburn or Penn State to remain at Georgia Tech. While it would not benefit our Spartans, I would personally respect that if it went down that way.

Michigan State still has three more games left on its schedule this year and it appears we won't see any potential move on Smith occur until after the season. So for now, we are just speculating the Spartans will be in the coaching carousel this year. And if they are, it sounds like Key is not someone we will be looking at as a candidate for the Spartans.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page onFacebookto follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.

This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: MSU potential coaching candidate Brent Key comments on job status, future at GT

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos