For much of the last decade, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wasn't just considered one of the best coaches in college football — there was a legitimate debate about whether he had surpassed everyone not named Nick Saban.
After leading Clemson to a 44-16 demolition of Alabama in the National Championship Game and guiding the Tigers to another undefeated regular season and a second consecutive championship game in 2019, Swinney was arguably on top of the sport. He eventually built a résumé that included multiple national championships, six consecutive College Football Playoff appearances, and a program that had become one of the sport's premier powers.
Those days aren't quite the reality anymore.
College football has changed dramatically. The transfer portal, NIL, conference realignment, and roster management have reshaped the landscape. Clemson has experienced bumps along the way, and Swinney has faced criticism for being slower than many of his peers to embrace the new era.
That's fair criticism.
What isn't fair is pretending that Swinney suddenly isn't one of the best coaches in the sport.
CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello recently released his Top 25 coaches in college football rankings and left Swinney completely off the list. Not No. 15. Not No. 20. Not No. 25.
Not ranked at all.
That feels less like analysis and more like an overreaction.
Now, let's be clear. I wouldn't place Swinney in the Top 3 today. I wouldn't put him in the Top 5, either.
Coaches like Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, and others have produced more recent results at the highest level. Swinney's last national championship came in the 2018 season, and Clemson hasn't consistently operated at that championship standard over the past few years. Even the job Curt Cignetti did at Indiana last season was impressive, but placing him at No. 1 seems a bit strong.
As for Swinney, outside the Top 25?
That's impossible to justify, even after a disappointing 2025 season where Clemson finished 7-6 following a loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.
And more importantly, let's not ignore what Swinney has accomplished over nearly two decades as a head coach.
Two national championships.
Four appearances in the national title game.
Six straight College Football Playoff appearances during the four-team era.
Nine ACC championships and 187 career wins.
If rankings are based solely on what happened last season, then maybe the conversation becomes more understandable. But if we're ranking the best coaches in college football, résumé has to matter.
That's where leaving Swinney off the list completely becomes indefensible.
Marcello ranked coaches like Brent Venables, Bret Bielema, Eli Drinkwitz, Lincoln Riley, and Florida’s first-year head coach, John Sumrall, among his Top 25.
Those are good football coaches and you know I love Coach Venables, but none of them has come remotely close to matching Swinney's accomplishments as a head coach.
Not one.
Even if you believe coaches like Marcus Freeman, Steve Sarkisian, Dan Lanning, or Mario Cristobal have done a better job navigating the modern era of college football, that's still not enough to push Swinney outside the Top 25.
Maybe outside the Top 5.
Maybe even outside the Top 7.
But outside the Top 10?
That's where the argument starts to fall apart.
Outside the Top 25?
That's where it becomes laughable.
The reality is that Swinney's reputation has suffered because Clemson is no longer winning 13 or 14 games every season. Expectations have become so high that a 10-win season and a playoff appearance are viewed as disappointments.
That's a compliment to what Swinney built.
If Clemson's recent trajectory is any indication, he may be adapting better than many critics want to admit. The Tigers have come around on the transfer portal, and their recent run on the recruiting trail seems to indicate a change.
Nobody is arguing that Swinney should automatically be ranked No. 1 because of what happened five years ago.
But completely removing a two-time national championship coach from a Top 25 coaches list ignores both context and common sense.
Dabo Swinney may not be at the very top of college football's coaching hierarchy anymore.
He's still firmly among the sport's elite.
And that's why leaving him off the list altogether is a mistake.
