Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key makes emotional plea after Nashville shooting: ‘Do something’

“If what I’m saying helps someone else have the courage to stand up and say something, then maybe someone will have the courage to stand up and do something,” Key said during a news conference.

Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key was emotional as he spoke to the media Wednesday following Monday’s tragic shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. And for Key, the shooting hit close to home as a parent.

“It’s the most heartbreaking thing in the world to think about your daughter going to school,” Key said during a news conference, according to USA Today. “She should be safe and protected. It’s (expletive), man, it is.”

Key’s mother was a third-grade teacher, and he said his 4-year-old daughter, Harper, was performing in a school play when the shooting happened.

The coach continued emphasizes the need for change.

“I have a chance to sit here and be in front of a camera and if one person hears me say this and agrees and does something to force a change and make something happen, and a thousand other people say something negative about not “I care,” he explained. – Because it worked.

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He continued: “And if what I’m saying helps someone else have the courage to stand up and say something, then maybe someone will have the courage to stand up and do something. Then maybe something will happen.”

The shooting at The Covenant School killed six people – Hallie Scruggs, 9; Evelyn Dieckhous, 9; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Mike Hill, 61; and Cynthia “Cindy” Broyles Peak, 61.

The 28-year-old was killed at the police academy. They were a former student of the school.

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Key concluded his remarks with a call to action: “As long as people sit there and argue and argue, more and more children are going to die, because it hasn’t changed… So something has to change. Everyone, please do something. .”

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Georgia Tech Associate Athletic Director Mike Flynnwho handles communications and public relations, shared a video of Key’s comments on Twitter.

“I’ve never made a political post on social media in my life and I’m 100% comfortable posting this,” he tweeted. “It’s not political. I’m posting it because my wife is a teacher. And because we have 2 school-aged children. And because I’m proud to work with @CoachBrentKey and call him friend’.

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