“The Last Dance” is a documentary miniseries highlighting the career of Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan, and more specifically, his 1997-98 season with the Chicago Bulls, his last with that franchise.
Haynes King had seen the show before. But he had to revisit it.
“I watched it when it came out. But I wanted to rewatch it because at the end of the day it’s my last dance. How did Michael Jordan handle it?” King told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the ACC Football Kickoff. “Obviously if you wanna do something, you look at, whatever it is, you look at who’s done it and how they did it. You do that, and you learn from it. Not necessarily copy it, but model it (into) what you think could work. I have done that.”
It is indeed the last go-round for King, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound sixth-year senior who five years ago was a wide-eyed, state-title winning quarterback from Longview, Texas, preparing to enroll at Texas A&M. That moment in time seems like a lifetime ago for a man now the face of Georgia Tech football, the embodiment of who the Yellow Jackets are and how they play on the field.
King goes into his final season tied for fourth in Tech history in touchdown passes (41), fifth in career completions (422), sixth in passing yards (4,956), tied for ninth in rushing touchdown (21) and 37th in rushing yards (1,324). Those gaudy numbers have come from only two seasons in white and gold, and despite King being absent from two games in 2024 because of a shoulder injury.
“A lot of times you see quarterbacks, and they kind of plateau, and they stop improving. But this is a guy that, last year, really improved and took himself and limited his turnovers. If he doesn’t get hurt those couple of games and miss those couple of games, he’s probably sitting there holding dang near every Georgia Tech passing record there is,” Tech coach Brent Key said. “He’s a film rat. He’s what you want in a quarterback. He’s constantly looking to get better and trying to improve his game and knowledge of the game and the way he affects people around him.”
King’s offseason has expectedly revolved around football, about becoming an even better quarterback, and ultimately about increasing muscle mass and strength in hopes of avoiding injury (easier said than done for a QB who often endearingly plays with reckless abandon). But there have been fun diversions over the past few months as well.
King and his father went to their first Kentucky Derby in May. King acknowledges that more often than not he did not pick the winning horses.
In late June, King attended the Manning Passing Academy to serve as a counselor. He had been to the event as a kid, but this time relished in the opportunity to connect with peers, to meet the Manning family and to talk football with guys such as former NFL coach Jon Gruden.
King also had a chance to return to Longview and hand out copies of his children’s book “Haynes King: A Helluva Quarterback” to the educators who helped mold him during his youth.
“Seeing those people, I haven’t seen them in forever. I even went down to my elementary (school) just to see the changes that’s happened. There’s no way I was that small,” King grinned. “It was good seeing all them and catching up and just giving back to the people that gave to me.”
On Tuesday, King will lead the Jackets onto the practice field for what will be his last first day of preseason camp, with a team expected to make serious noise inside the ACC — and maybe even on a national scope — in 2025.
King’s offense includes a deeper group at running back, led by Jamal Haynes, a wider array of weapons at wide receiver, led by Malik Rutherford, and a young but talented offensive line, fronted by guard Keylan Rutledge. And if King is Batman, he has a Robin with him in sophomore QB Aaron Philo.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
The ingredients are there for King, who has a 14-10 record as Tech’s starting quarterback, to take the Jackets toward something great in 2025. And because of those external expectations on him and his team, he said he has thought back to his days as a high school senior when his Longview High School Lobos were coming off a state championship win the season before and had to adjust to the heightened pressure.
“(If) I’m worried about too much other stuff, it ain’t gonna go too good, start pressing. That’s what I learned,” King added. “I feel like I’ve got a better understanding and am more mature, and I’m just taking all of it in and going out and having fun.”
Once up a time, King was a 4-star recruit and pursued by nearly 30 programs. He was close to playing for Tennessee and Chris Weinke, then the quarterbacks coach with the Volunteers and now the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Tech.
King played sporadically with the Aggies during his time in College Station, Texas, slowed by injury while yo-yoing up and down the depth chart. In 2022, after graduating from A&M, he transferred to Tech. The past two seasons he has helped raise the profile of Tech football along with Key, Weinke and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. King’s stock as an NFL quarterback, however, hasn’t necessarily climbed the charts.
Despite projections that he most likely will become an undrafted free agent next spring, King said he’s going to do everything he can to get his shot at the NFL.
“That’s what I want to do. I wanna go to the NFL and try to play as long as I can. When I can’t, I’m gonna end up being a coach,” he said. “If I take care of business and handle my stuff and do what I do, I feel like I’m gonna make it because of who I am and what I’ve done and what I can provide to teams.
“I don’t wanna think too much about it because if now I’m starting to think, ‘If I don’t do this or don’t score here’ — now I’m worried about the wrong stuff instead of it’s just me and how I play and produce. If I play good and we win a lot of games, everybody’s gonna benefit.”
Before King’s professional football opportunities come about, of course, there’s work to be done. He and the Jackets are about a month away from boarding a plane to Boulder, Colorado, to face the Buffaloes in the season opener (8 p.m., Aug. 29, ESPN).
It’s then that King’s last dance will begin, a dance he is happy to have had with the Jackets.
“I fell in love with the people,” he said of his passion for playing for Tech. “It doesn’t matter who it is. They’re down to earth, blue collar, hard working. Don’t just want it easy. They’re gonna push through some adversity, don’t matter what it is, whether it’s an engineering test or having one (healthy) shoulder playing quarterback.
“We’re all wired the same way, and that’s why everyone chose Tech. They didn’t choose the easy route.”
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