The Song That Drives Tech Football
By: Pete Croatto | Categories: Featured Stories, Sports
It nestles into the soul, turning three verses and 148 words into a spiritual experience. As star running back Jamal Haynes says, Georgia Tech football without “Ramblin’ Wreck” would “feel almost abnormal.”
The song has a firm place in Tech football lore: It is sung after every win. But it’s an emotional ballast for the team in good times and bad.
Haynes was a redshirt freshman in 2022, when the Yellow Jackets lost a winnable game in the middle of a 5-7 season. He remembers singing “Ramblin’ Wreck” huddled with his teammates and, amidst the gloom, feeling its impact.
“A lot of the times when I sing the song, I kind of get chills,” Haynes says. “It feels like you’re surrounded by family. Especially after a game where people might be injured. It brings everything into perspective. It really reunites us as a Georgia Tech family.”
That includes the fans. Haynes and ace linebacker Kyle Efford both associate “Ramblin’ Wreck” with beating the then-undefeated University of Miami last season, which prompted fans to flood the field while the song provided a soundtrack for their jubilance.
Singing “Ramblin’ Wreck” with the crowd after a win is a communal experience, Efford says. “We’re all here, we’re all together, we’re all family,” he explains. “We all want the same common goal. Not a lot of people get to experience that—just to have a crowd that is in tune with you. It changes your whole perspective on the game and gives you much more to play for,” he says.
For Efford, singing the fight song loud and proud is also a chance to release the emotions that come with 60 minutes of focus and intensity. After a win, “it’s a natural high,” he says.
The song also serves as a rite of initiation. First-year players are expected to learn it before the season starts. (Georgia Tech’s band visits the practice field during training camp to teach the song.) Efford and Haynes say it’s taken seriously. If you can’t be bothered to learn this tradition, which is important to this team, how can I trust you on the field?
“Ramblin’ Wreck” is easy to learn but tricky to sing. Employing a mix of tenor and baritone helps, says head football Coach Brent Key, Mgt 01. There are parts that get “a little screwy,” including the string of four “helluva”s in the second line of the first verse.
“I think the song is perfect,” Haynes adds. “I feel like it’s a good representation of the past of Georgia Tech, the present of Georgia Tech, and the future that it holds.” Haynes’ only complaint: He would like more slamming of UGA.
Key was a four-year starter at guard for Georgia Tech. “Ramblin’ Wreck” is “probably instilled in him,” Efford says. He’s right: Whether Key leads the sing-along or serves in the sweaty, battered chorus, he has drunk to all the good fellows who come from far and near.
“From the very first time I sang it, I embraced it,” Key says. That was despite growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, rooting for the Crimson Tide and banishing “the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave.” When Key came to Tech, he started yelling for engineers and cursing Georgia. He’s looking forward to one day teaching his daughter, Harper, age 6, the tradition. She doesn’t know the song, yet. “I don’t want her saying ‘helluva’ that much,” Key says. Another tradition he wants to bring to Tech is to win, which will provide even more opportunities for everyone to cheer on the brave
and bold. “It’s all full circle,” Key says.
