
Dabo Swinney drops in national outlet's coaches ranking |
Dabo Swinney dropped a spot year-to-year in 247Sports' ranking of the Top 25 coaches in college football.
Swinney fell to No. 6 this year, trailing Georgia's Kirby Smart, Ohio State's Ryan Day, Oregon's Dan Lanning, Texas' Steve Sarkisian and Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman. Four in that group of five made the CFP semifinals and two face each other on Monday for the national title in Day and Freeman. With a talented roster coming back, Swinney seeks his first CFP semifinal round since the 2020 season and a first national title chance since 2019. 247Sports wrote: Career coaching record: 180-47 What changed: Those questioning if the game had passed Dabo Swinney by were quieted a bit in 2024 with the Tigers' conference championship, but Clemson did back into the playoff a bit with regular-season losses to Georgia, South Carolina and Louisville. With Tom Allen as his new defensive coordinator, the window for Swinney to win his third national title at Clemson remains open. But for how long? Monday's winner will join Swinney and Smart as the active head coaches with a national championship. On the 2025 slate, South Carolina's Shane Beamer cracked the Top 25 at No. 22, as well as SMU's Rhett Lashlee (20), Florida State's Mike Norvell (16) and LSU's Brian Kelly (10). "I took some heat for putting Brian Kelly at No. 3 in these rankings prior to the 2024 season and it was deserved after the Tigers failed to impress once more in the SEC," 247Sports' Brad Crawford said. "The 2025 campaign is pivotal for Kelly, whose program has landed one of the transfer portal's top hauls in hopes of competing for a spot in the playoff. Kelly toppled Nick Saban during his first season in Baton Rouge, but the memorable wins have been few and far between since." NC State's Dave Doeren dropped out after ranking No. 21 last year. Norvell slipped eight spots to No. 16. "Norvell tumbles in the rankings after a complete faceplant coming off the 13-1 finish as the ACC champions in 2023. Several swings and misses in the transfer portal nuked the Seminoles' chances and this season was disastrous," Crawford said.

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