Mendoza gets the first crack at QB1
Alberto Mendoza has the keys to Georgia Tech's offense, DeAndre Hopkins is already reshaping the receiver room, and the Yellow Jackets open Thursday at home as favorites over a rebuilding Colorado.
The job is Mendoza's — mostly
Georgia Tech spent the offseason emptying out its quarterback room and refilling it with one name: Alberto Mendoza. Haynes King, the longtime starter, is out of eligibility, and his backup, Aaron Philo, followed departing offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to Florida — where the CFBKings account reported this week that Philo has already been named the Gators' Week 1 starter. That is two proven arms gone in the same offseason, replaced by a transfer who has never taken a college snap as a starter.
Mendoza, a redshirt sophomore who transferred in from Indiana and is the brother of Hoosiers Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, spent spring and fall camp establishing himself as the clear favorite. The AJC reported that Brent Key has been blunt about it — "Alberto is the guy" — while still leaving himself an out: "I can't predict the future." Key has also talked up how much motion and shifting the staff is willing to build around him, manipulating coverages so a first-time starter isn't left reading a defense alone.
Nothing here is officially declared for September 3, but every camp report points the same direction. Mendoza is expected to take the first snap against Colorado at Bobby Dodd, and how he looks in that game will set the tone for how much the Jackets can ask of him the rest of the way.
Last season ended on the road, and not kindly
Georgia Tech closed out last season on December 27 with a 25-21 loss to BYU, capping a finish that also included a home defeat to rival Georgia, 16-9, and a loss to Pittsburgh at home, 42-28. The lone bright spot late was a 36-34 win at Boston College. It was the kind of finish that leaves a fan base wanting change, not a lap of honor.
That stretch is exactly the backdrop for everything happening now — a new starting quarterback, a staff shakeup at offensive coordinator, and a fresh face in the receiver room. None of last season's box scores carry over into 2026, but they're the reason this camp has felt different from the ones before it.
DeAndre Hopkins is already changing the receiver room
Georgia Tech's most unusual hire of the offseason wasn't a coordinator — it was a five-time NFL All-Pro. DeAndre Hopkins joined the staff on July 31 as an assistant wide receivers coach, as PeteNakos and BR_CFB both reported, fresh off a stint with the Patriots in training camp. He missed the Jackets' first day of camp, but the AJC reported his impact was felt almost immediately once he arrived, with receivers coach Jafar Williams saying, "He has so many tricks and tools that are going to benefit our room. It's a pleasure working with that guy."
Hopkins has also made clear this isn't a retirement move — he told reporters he hasn't ruled out playing again — but for now, Georgia Tech's young receivers get to learn route detail from one of the best hands in the league this decade. For a group that's breaking in a first-year starting quarterback, that kind of teaching in August could matter more than any single practice rep.
A rebuilding Colorado comes to the Flats
The opener is Thursday night vs. Colorado, and the Buffaloes arrive with plenty to prove after finishing 3-9 last year — Deion Sanders' worst season in Boulder, one he's admitted got Colorado's "butts kicked." The response was another full teardown: 43 players in and 64 out through the transfer portal, plus new coordinators on both sides in Brennan Marion (offense) and Chris Marve (defense). Whatever Colorado shows up in Atlanta will look almost nothing like the team that lost seven of its last eight games in 2025.
Georgia Tech opened as a 6.5-point favorite at home, with the total set at 50.5 — a number that reads more middling than lopsided for a team debuting a new quarterback against a program still finding its identity under Sanders. Kickoff at Bobby Dodd is 7:00 PM, and ESPN's SportsCenter is even setting up outside the Peters Parking Deck at 5:00 PM for the pregame scene. First game, first real look at Mendoza, first read on whether this camp's optimism was earned.