CBS ranks Dabo Swinney in 'first-ballot Hall of Fame' tier |
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney already found his way into
his home-state's hall of fame recently, but CBS Sports sees him joining the ranks of his top coaching peers nationally with ease one day.
CBS Sports college football writer Ben Kercheval ranked the nation's best coaches by tiers this week and included Swinney in - appropriate for his alma mater - 'The Bear Bryant Tier: First-ballot Hall of Famers.' Swinney is ranked third in a group with two coaches his teams have bested in College Football Playoff matchups in Alabama's Nick Saban and Ohio State's Urban Meyer, who own six and three national championships respectively. "I added Swinney to this tier after a third straight ACC championship and College Football Playoff appearance," Kercheval writes. "Other than Saban, no other coach can claim as many consecutive conference titles and playoff berths in this postseason era. As a result, Alabama-Clemson has turned into college football's best national rivalry. Since the Tigers are loaded coming into the 2018 season, we could absolutely see Part IV this year. And look, Swinney has unquestionably elevated Clemson's national profile. "He recruits at a championship level, employs an excellent staff that develops those recruits into NFL players and wins championships. He's earned this spot." The next-best ACC coach checks in with the third tier, where Miami's Mark Richt is seventh-best of that group, Louisville's Bobby Petrino is 10th there and Notre Dame's Brian Kelly is 12th. Coaches from regular opponents Pittsburgh (Pat Narduzzi) and South Carolina (Will Muschamp) fall in the "Jury's still out" category. Clemson has four former coaches in the National Football Foundation College Football of Fame, with Danny Ford's induction most recent (2017) along with John Heisman, Jess Neely and Frank Howard.
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