In the late 2010s, Dabo Swinney emerged as one of the premier college football coaches, rivaling even Nick Saban. Leading the Clemson Tigers, Swinney guided his team to four national championship games within five years, securing titles in 2016 and 2018.
In 2024, Swinney once again propelled Clemson to the College Football Playoff. Despite these achievements, The Athletic recently downgraded Swinney in their coach rankings following a challenging 2025 season.
Clemson began the 2025 season ranked fourth, with Cade Klubnik, their quarterback, seen as a Heisman contender. However, the season rapidly unraveled. The Tigers lost three of their first four games to LSU, Georgia Tech, and Syracuse. By mid-season, they were 3-5. Although they won their last four games to reach a bowl, they ultimately lost the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State.
This downturn reflects a broader trend at Clemson over the past decade. A pattern of losing more games has emerged. Previously known for mostly losing one or two games a season, the Tigers increased to two or three, and eventually four. By 2025, they had lost six games.
Chris Vannini of The Athletic commented on this decline, stating, “Dabo Swinney drops out of the top tier for the first time since this exercise began. He has two national titles, but the last one was eight years ago. The Tigers have one CFP appearance in the last five years, and last season’s 7-6 record was Swinney’s worst since 2010. You can’t deny the highs, but the Tigers aren’t close to the bar he set and are trending downward.”
The frustration at Clemson is exacerbated by the success of Swinney’s former defensive coordinator, Brent Venables, who led the Oklahoma Sooners to the College Football Playoff last year. Although they suffered a significant home defeat to Alabama, quarterback John Mateer and the remainder of the team instill hope in Norman.
In Clemson, the situation is less encouraging. For the first time in 15 years, the Tigers will not start the season ranked. Even Nick Saban is tempering expectations for Swinney and his team. He remarked on “The Pat McAfee Show,” “I think we’ll see if they’re back. I know they’ve got a lot of question marks too, whether it’s quarterback, and they got a lot of holes to fill. I mean, everybody thought they were going to be, you know, the class of the town last year, and it just completely disintegrated on them.”
If Clemson continues along this path, Swinney’s reputation may be at risk as well.