Kirk Herbstreit ranks his top seven coaches from Week 3
Kirk Herbstreit already named his top seven teams following week three’s slate of action on the gridiron. Now, he has recognized six of the seven coaches from that list for top coaching performances.
Herbstreit shared his list of his top seven coaches from Saturday on Twitter on Monday evening. Florida’s Billy Napier led the way for him at No. 1 while Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Sacramento State’s Andy Thompson, South Alabama’s Kane Wommack, Miami (OH)’s Jacob Bronowski, Ole Miss’ Charlie Weis Jr., and Fresno State’s Kevin Coyle also made the cut.
1. Billy Napier – Florida Gators
Billy Napier got the second ranked win and first over Tennessee of his tenure with Florida’s 29-16 win over the No. 11 Volunteers.
The game plan in Gainesville did the trick as the Gators held Tennessee to just 16 points with great defense and an offense that burned time of possession. In the end, the job was so well done that Napier was also On3’s Power Five Coach of the Week alongside the nod from Herbstreit.
2. Eli Drinkwitz – Missouri Tigers
Drinkwitz could have very nearly missed this cut for Herbstreit had Missouri gone to overtime and lost to Kansas State after a delay of game penalty that pushed the Tiger’s kick to 61 yards.
However, K Harrison Mevis ended up sealing the deal with the longest kick in SEC history. It gave Mizzou their best start since 2018 and first ranked non-conference win since 1990.
3. Andy Thompson – Sacramento State
Sacramento State came to Stanford at 2-0 after wins over Nicholls State and Texas A&M Commerce. They now sit at 3-0 in Thompson’s first season at the helm after a 30-23 win over the Cardinals.
After three years as the Hornet’s DC, Thompson helped Sacramento State to their 22nd straight win in the regular season. It was also the program’s fourth win over an FBS program since 2011.
4. Kane Wommack – South Alabama Jaguars
South Alabama nearly shut out Oklahoma State this weekend in a 33-7 win in Stillwater.
The Jaguar’s offense was humming as they nearly doubled the Cowboys in yardage and overdoubled their yardage on the ground. Add in a pair of turnovers and Wommack helped guide his team to another impressive win overall as they’ve gone 12-4 in their last 16 games.
5. Jacob Bronowski – Miami (OH)’s ST Coordinator
Bronowski, who’s in his second year as the special teams coordinator at Miami (OH), was key in the Redhawk’s win at Cincinnati this past weekend.
For one, K Graham Nicholson was perfect as he went 6-6 on field goals and extra points to help the team keep pace with the Bearcats. Then, with under a minute left, his unit blocked a potentially game-winning field goal from Cincy. That sent the game to overtime where Miami would go on to win by a score of 31-24.
6. Charlie Weis Jr. – Ole Miss’ Co-Offensive Coordinator
Weis Jr. helped coach Ole Miss to another high-scoring output in their third game of the year against Georgia Tech. The Rebels put 48 on the Yellow Jackets in a 25-point win. That brought their season average up to 52.7 ppg.
It’s even more impressive when you consider the team’s leading receiver missed the win with an injury and the team’s leading rusher almost missed with an injury of his own. That’s why the play of QB Jaxson Dart was as good as it was considering he posted 387 yards of offense and three touchdowns on his own.
7. Kevin Coyle – Fresno State Defensive Coordinator
Coyle couldn’t have asked for a better day from his defense. Actually, he may never see an output like they had against Arizona State again.
They first pitched a shutout in Tempe as the Bulldogs went on to win 29-0. The eye-popping stat, though, is that they also forced eight takeaways. Fresno State finished with five interceptions and recovered all three of the Sun Devils’ fumbles.