How Much Disrespect is Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Receiving From National Media?

Despite a plethora of ACC Championships, College Football Playoff appearances and two national titles to his name, the Clemson head coach continues to see his name left out of top lists.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is looking for his tenth ACC Championship as head coach in the 2026 season. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Seven years ago, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney won his second national championship, the third in program history. 

Fast forward to the summer of 2026, and the national media don’t seem to remember the greatness that he once had. It’s now to the point that the Clemson head coach has been left out of national rankings for some of the best coaches in the sport. 

Just ask CBS Sports’ college football reporter, Brandon Marcello. He released his picks for his top 50 coaches in the sport, and Swinney was left off of it. To put it in perspective, four other ACC coaches found themselves on the list. 

Plenty of great coaches across college football pic.twitter.com/BfEF1KqI2N

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) May 27, 2026

But not Swinney. Although Mario Cristobal, Rhett Lashlee, James Franklin and Jeff Brohm all made the list, they collectively have zero conference championships to their respective names. On the flip side, Clemson’s head coach has nine to his name. 

To give a counterargument, recency bias plays a role in this list, strictly because Clemson went 7-6 and had a disappointing end to the season in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. The Tigers have had opportunities against top opponents in recent seasons, playing the likes of Georgia, Texas and LSU when they were all top 10 opponents. 

However, Swinney hasn’t been successful in recent years, but he has the chance to flip the script in 2026. 

He brought back an old friend in Chad Morris, after the hire of Broyles’ Award winner Garrett Riley at offensive coordinator went up in flames after 2025. During his introductory press conference, Swinney said that he went away from his instincts, making some hires that stagnated the program in recent years. 

Clemson looks to change that in 2026. 

“Like everything around here, I get a lot of advice anytime, any type of decision is made, and I’ve made a lot of decisions in my days,” Swinney said back in January. “My best decisions have usually been the most unpopular. My worst decisions have been the most popular, to be honest with you.”

Narratives flipped in 2024, when the Tigers used a walk-off field goal to win the ACC Championship and secure their spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in four seasons. While he continued to get criticism, the end of the season proved he could stay at the top. 

Dabo Swinney has heard enough from the Clemson critics this year 👀

(via @MarcWYFFNews4) pic.twitter.com/n7uC7FT5gw

— DraftKings Sports (@DKSports) December 10, 2024

Perhaps the most important season to prove if he still has it is this upcoming one, due to the opponents on the schedule. 

Going to LSU to open the season, followed by other away contests at Cal (a 10:30 p.m. kickoff) and Duke, will see how the Tigers measure up with more games away from Memorial Stadium. When they come home, they have to face Miami, which could be one of the top-ranked teams in the country at the point in playing, Virginia Tech under a strong head coach and South Carolina. 

2026 is the season where Swinney can flip the script. Until then, plenty of disrespect could be shown in more ranking predictions, coaching projections and more. 

At the end of the day, it’s your football team that does the talking, and that’s the focus heading into June.