Jeff Brohm, Louisville – A+
If you haven’t lost a game yet, you’re getting an A+. Jeff Brohm has done an amazing job at Louisville this year. The Cardinals are 6-0, and physically punished Notre Dame in a way I didn’t think was possible. Louisville has gone from a team that showed glimpses of being really good, to getting longer and longer stretches of strong play as the season has progressed. They are a force in the ACC in 2024.
Mack Brown, North Carolina – A+
We always wondered what North Carolina would look like with a pretty consistent defense to go along with that dynamic offense. We know now and it looks like a top-15 team, that hasn’t lost a game yet reaching a 5-0 start. Starting with a neutral site win over South Carolina, the Heels have taken care of business each time out. The feels like a a UNC team with some staying power.
Mike Norvell, Florida State – A+
Mike Norvell has taken Florida State into the top 5 this year. Starting with a game where the Noles erased LSU, FSU just keeps winning. It was a struggle against BC, and Clemson pushed FSU, but the Noles persevered even with a Jordan Travis who was clearly ailing. The defense may not be great, but Norvell has FSU positioned as a potential playoff team. You can’t ask for more at the moment as a Nole’s fan.
Mike Elko, Duke – A-
You can’t get on Mike Elko too much for Duke’s 4-1 start that saw a dominating win over Clemson and Gameday coming to Durham for Notre Dame. If I can knock Elko for one thing it is going into soft coverage on the 4th down play against Notre Dame that could have ended the game. Other than that it’s hard to argue with anything Elko has done, as he continues to do a great job. Now he’ll have to figure out what to do if QB Riley Leonard is out for an extended period of time.
Dave Doeren – NC State – B
NC State sits 4-2 after 6 games. The Wolfpack have beat who they should have, could have beat Louisville, and haven’t lost to anyone they weren’t really supposed to. The Wolfpack have looked neither impressive nor awful, and still have a realistic shot at 8-win regular season. Brennan Armstrong surprisingly didn’t work out at QB, so we’ll see if MJ Morris helps that offense. He did throw 4 TDs but also had 3 interceptions against Marshall. The defense has mostly been pretty solid. If you are looking at expectations NC State has more or less met them, but it would be nice to have the Louisville game back.
Mario Cristobal, Miami – C+
One disastrous coaching blunder dropped Cristobal from an A+ to a C+. Miami was 4-0 with 4 blowout wins including running Texas A&M off the field. They played an uneven game with Georgia Tech but were within a kneeldown of beating the Jackets. Cristobal ran the ball, fumbled, and then Miami gave up a 74-yard drive to Georgia Tech with no timeouts in under 25 seconds to lose. It’s the kind of loss that can wreck a season if Miami isn’t careful and an absolutely unacceptable coaching error. You can’t lose as a 20-point favorite, at home, coming off a BYE week with a finish like that.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech – C+
Brent Key needed to be 3-3 at the mid-point of the season to give Georgia Tech any realistic shot at a bowl. How the Jackets got there has left us all wondering who they really are. They nearly beat an excellent Louisville team, got into the 4th quarter at Ole Miss with a chance to win, had a nightmare game against a very bad Bowling Green team, then stunned the college football world winning at Miami in the final seconds. Key has made some mistakes, but he’s showing enough good things to give Jacket fans hope.
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