Nov. 25, 2002
By Jeremy Noel – The name’s Fox. Just Fox. In a move traditionally reserved for the world’s top soccer players, entertainers and the occasional baseball standout, ala Pel?, Ronaldo, Cher, Ichiro, etc., Georgia Tech junior linebacker Keyaron Fox says that he would prefer that people just call him “Fox,” for the rest of his career as a Yellow Jacket.
Fox, whose Yellow Jackets will travel to Athens, Ga., to face in-state rival Georgia on Saturday in a game that will be televised nationally on CBS at 3:30 p.m., says that while some people struggle saying his first name (pronounced key-AIR-un), nobody has had any trouble with his last name. He credits Georgia Tech radio play-by-play announcer Wes Durham with the identity change.
“I really don’t know the history behind my first name,” says Fox. “My mom said that she was just getting creative and she just came up with it. She’s never been able to give me a reason why. Now I just go by ‘Fox,’ though. I tell people to quit using ‘Key Fox,’ because, if you can pronounce my first name, it’s cool, but it’s just ‘Fox,’ from here on out. My teammate caught on pretty quickly, but Ole’ Wes Durham really started the whole thing by saying it all over the radio. He came up with it, so I guess I need to give him credit.”
No matter what name you choose to call him, Fox and his fellow linebackers, senior Recardo Wimbush and junior Daryl Smith, have been the leaders of a Tech defensive unit that ranks second in the ACC in both rushing (121.3 ypg) and scoring defense (16.9 ppg). The Jackets are the nation’s 14th-best team in scoring defense, while also rating 25th in the country in pass efficiency defense (107.2). The trio of linebackers are the team’s top three tacklers on the year, with Fox ranking third in the group with 70 total stops despite missing nearly two games with a high ankle sprain. In Tech’s 17-2 win over Duke, Fox recorded his career interception to lead a stingy Yellow Jacket defensive effort, and was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week.
When asked about the Tech linebacker corps, Fox says that the group works well together. “Daryl and I came in together and Recardo was more like a big brother who taught us the ropes. Now we’re all working together. We stay on the same page as a group. Recardo and I are smaller than Daryl, so they use us more for outside rushes and Daryl is the hammer in the middle. We work well together as a group.”
The Yellow Jacket defense has undergone a change in philosophy, with new defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta bringing an aggressive, attacking style to the table in his first year at Tech. The new approach is one that is to the liking of Tech’s defensive players and has worked, as evidenced by the Jackets ranking in the top three of every team defensive category in the ACC.
“The new system is a lot more aggressive,” said Fox, who lines up at defensive end in certain packages. “We’re not giving the quarterback a lot of time to sit back and pick out his receivers, so we’re getting off the field on third down more often. It’s always fun to blitz and come in from the outside. The best feeling is to hit a quarterback over anyone else, because he’s the most sacred person on the offense. When you hit the quarterback, you feel pretty good about it.”
As Georgia Tech wraps up its regular season this week and looks toward a sixth-straight bowl berth, the Yellow Jackets’ opponents can expect continued contributions from “Fox” and his fellow linebackers, along with the rest of the Tech defense. Maybe the single name thing will work out for “Fox” after all. Just ask Madonna, Sting, Prince and Goldberg.
-GT-
