Georgia Tech will take on Colorado on Friday night in the opening week of the 2025 college football season. Both Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key and Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders are entering their third seasons with high expectations.This will be the first time the two coaches face off, but Key has long admired Sanders."When you grow up an avid sports fan in the southeast, and I was a huge football fan, huge fan of baseball," Key said. "And obviously, my team was the Braves growing up in Birmingham. So to see him (Sanders) be able to perform and play at both sports is such a high level."Sanders is the only athlete to have played in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. He spent nine seasons in Major League Baseball as a speedy outfielder and was also a standout in the NFL as a cornerback and return specialist.Another two-sport star, Bo Jackson, also competed in both the NFL and MLB and is the only player to have been named an All-Star in both leagues.Key has openly shared that he admired both Sanders and Jackson while growing up."Those are the two guys that I wanted to be like when I grew up. I obviously couldn't hit a curve ball, and then went fast enough to play corner and or running back and so here I am."Brent Key acknowledges early-season challenge against ColoradoGeorgia Tech made headlines in 2024 by toppling Miami 28-23 on Nov. 9 and nearly defeating Georgia in an epic eight-overtime battle on Nov. 29. After finishing last season with a 7-6 record, Brent Key’s squad returns in 2025 with a strong mix of experienced talent on both sides of the ball.However, Key is realistic about the challenge of opening the season against Deion Sanders’ Colorado, which relies heavily on the transfer portal and brings back many key players from last year."When you look at their defense, they have a lot of guys back," Key said (via SI). "The thing I really see is when you have 20 guys on defense that are juniors or seniors, that you've got-- That's really the same thing. They have that same advantage with the leadership and the older people who've been through the fires, regardless if it was there or not."Key also noted the strength of Colorado’s offensive line."They might be, if not the biggest, one of the biggest offensive lines in the country. And I'm talking about every level, they're massive. So it's a challenge just going to play a really good football team."However, Colorado lost two of the nation’s top talents in Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, which will give Georgia Tech a chance to engineer another potential upset to kick off the season.