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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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They have a lot of college football experts at ESPN.com. At a slow time of the year, they filled their site with a story off a survey that asked them to name the 10 best coaches in college football.
Up until he retired after last season, the answer was Alabama’s Nick Saban. Always. There was no real reason to even ask the question. But with the pitchman now working in broadcasting, the coaching question is certainly legit again.
The panel almost unanimously picked Georgia’s Kirby Smart No. 1. The two-time national champion received all but one of the 12 first-place votes. The other went to Bill Belichick, which is a topic for a later CWFS,
Smart has a ridiculous record in his first nine seasons, making the folks at his alma mater look very, well, smart, for hiring him.
Obviously, no beef from me on the choice of Smart. And I am good with No. 2 Ryan Day of Ohio State. His 70-10 record is scary good and he isn’t done winning big. Not by a long shot.
The panel starts to lose me at No. 3, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. Regular readers of CWFS realize I am not a fan. And though he led the Tigers to the recent College Football Playoff, the program has taken a small dip.
Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman at No. 4 might seem a bit lofty to some. Not me. He was a home-run hire and will have the Irish in the CFP most years. I expect him to win a title soon.
The Big Ten is represented by three coaches: Day, No. 6 Dan Lanning of Oregon…
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Publish date : 2025-05-17 14:47:00
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