Kirk Herbstreit reveals his top performing coaches from Week 4
Kirk Herbstreit highlighted his top performance in college football from Week 4, evaluating everything from players to coaches to teams.
While looking at coaches, Herbstreit focused on some teams that maybe weren’t expected to win on Saturday, along with others that proved they’re contenders within their conference. Here’s the College GameDay analyst’s picks.
CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel
Kirk Herbstreit’s top performing coaches from Week 4:
- Chris Klieman, Kansas State Wildcats HC
- Tommy Reese, Notre Dame Fighting Irish OC
- P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Golden Gophers HC
- Lace Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks HC
- Josh Heupel, Tennessee Volunteers HC
- Dan Lanning, Oregon Ducks HC
- Curt Cignetti, James Madison HC
Of course, Klieman and Cignetti pulled off some tremendous upset wins on Saturday, defeating the Oklahoma Sooners and Appalachian State Mountaineers, respectively. As for Fleck, Heupel and Lanning, they proved their teams are on the up and up, securing conference victories in their games.
Meanwhile, Leipold is continuing one of the best coaching jobs in the nation, as Kansas sits at 4-0. No longer just a basketball school, the Jayhawks are proving all the doubters wrong in 2022.
As for Tommy Rees, the Notre Dame offense finally found it’s footing on Saturday in their win over North Carolina, and the Fighting Irish needed to get back even in the worst way. Now at 2-2, a season that was void of hope looks like it could finish out strong for Notre Dame.
Kirk Herbstreit made some fantastic picks for his coaches to highlight in Week 4, and the spotlight is well deserved. Now, it’s up to them to make the list at the same time next week.
Kirk Herbstreit identifies what makes this Ohio State team different
Moreover, Ohio State kicked off Big Ten play on Saturday with a statement against Wisconsin. The Buckeyes pummeled the Badgers in a 52-21 victory that had a 45-7 margin heading into the fourth quarter. ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit was front and center for that game while on the call on ABC. After watching the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium, he had one major takeaway to share.
Herbstreit shared his thoughts on Sunday on Twitter. While he gave credit to the continued offensive excellence in Columbus, it’s the defensive changes they’ve made and their newfound edge that has separated Ohio State from themselves in years past.
“As good as Ohio State football looked last night with their execution, the thing that feels different to me about this group is their defense is much more complete & aggressive with Jim Knowles scheme,” said Herbstreit. “Ryan Day has the entire team engaged and locked in-sense a real edge to this team!”
Everyone knew what Ohio State’s offense was going to be. After posting the No. 1 offense last season at 45.7 points per game, they’re even better to start this season with an average of 48.8 points per game. However, that defense was always the question and new DC Jim Knowles has answered it in a big way. After giving up 22.8 points per game last season, the Buckeye defense is allowing just 16 points through four games in 2022.
The changes Ohio State made this offseason were necessary ones. The new and improved defense doesn’t just make them a nastier team in general to Kirk Herbstreit. It makes them a more well-rounded team, and that could be what gets the Buckeyes back in the CFP if not the national title game.