ESPN analyst on Dabo Swinney’s HC ranking:’ There’s a great argument you can’t be top 10′
Dabo Swinney is not only one of the best head coaches in college football right now, he’s one of the best in college football history.
Recently, ESPN released their top 10 head coach rankings, with Swinney naturally making the cut. Swinney is lower than usual this year, landing at No. 4 in their rankings. Lower than usual and at No. 4 isn’t a bad thing as a top 5 coach in the game is a label that is more than acceptable, especially considering Clemson’s struggles of late.
One ESPN analyst, Harry Lyles Jr., felt this was too high for Swinney and argued that He might not be a top-10 head coach today.
Dabo Swinney at No. 4 feels high to me, given his unwillingness to adjust to today’s game. I think he’s a great coach, and what he has done at Clemson is legendary work. They need to build a big statue of him on that campus at some point. But if you aren’t willing to do all the necessary things to compete at the highest level of the game, you can’t be top five. There’s a great argument you can’t be top 10 either, especially when one considers what those below Swinney have done and are doing.
Lyles Jr. wasn’t the only one to do this. Bill Connelly also made the case for Swinney to not be a top 10 head coach at this point.
It all depends on the statute of limitations, right? If we’re judging coaches by their résumés, Swinney should be second on the list at worst. It’s hard to beat two national titles and seven ACC championships. But while he remains a very good head coach, it’s extremely difficult to make the case that he has been anywhere close to one of college football’s 10 best over the past three years. Clemson has finished 14th, 13th and 20th in the past three final AP polls and has retreated from national title contention to one conference title in three seasons and wins in the Cheez-It and Gator Bowls.
Swinney’s refusal to adapt to the evolution in roster management, and his insistence on continuing to build through high school recruiting, is endearing in a way, but it has made Clemson far less nimble than other top programs when it comes to plugging holes from year to year. And right now, it appears that Clemson is merely a top-15 or top-20 program. Most still aspire to that, but it’s an unquestionable letdown for a program that once made six straight CFP appearances. Make no mistake: If we had ranked 15 coaches, I would have had Swinney on the list. But it has been a minute since he was a top-10 coach.
If you want to make your case around Swinney’s failure to adjust, sure I get that… but to mention considering what those below Swinney have done and are doing is a little ridiculous. Mike Norvell, great coach but is what he’s doing right now enough to completely ignore Swinney’s history and the fact that the Tigers were a field goal away from ending the Seminoles playoff hopes? I’m going to say no to that one!
Dan Lanning is an excellent coach who’s doing some great work in two years with the program, too. Yet, it’s been two years, and it’s not like we’ve seen the Ducks storm into the college football playoff, so no, I’m not giving Lanning an edge either, at least not yet.
After that, if you’re making the argument from anyone 6-10 (Sarkisian, Kiffen, Leipold, Day), I’m sorry, you’re just being a hater for the sake of doing so.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the Tigers haven’t had the best years over their past three seasons but what Swinney has done at Clemson and continues to do is not something to just throw away. Sure, they’re not active in the transfer portal which could greatly benefit them, but their 2023 recruiting class excelled far beyond expectation, they have a strong 2024 class with multiple players expected to make an impact and a 2025 class that currently ranks top 3 in the nation. It’s not like Swinney is Ryan Day who was handed the keys to the Ferrari and drove it like a Chevy Impala, he helped build Clemson into the program it is today and continues to do great work.
Dabo Swinney is clearly a top-10 head coach and a top-5 head coach also feels like a safe statement.
