Predictions Suggest 2026 May Be Dabo Swinney’s Last Year At Clemson

The 2025 season was Dabo Swinney’s worst season since 2010. For some people, that meant it was time for a change. For others, it was “trust the process.”

Nonetheless, Swinney earned the faith of Clemson’s front office: 2026 will be his 18th year in charge of Clemson football. But The Athletic and many others are already skeptical about what year 18 will bring.

In an article outlining early college football predictions for the upcoming year, two of The Athletic’s analysts foresaw a rocky future for Swinney.

“Next season will be Dabo Swinney’s last as Clemson coach. He and the school agree to part ways after another mediocre season,” The Athletic’s Ralph Russo wrote.

Ultimately, it is just a prediction. We are more than six months from Clemson’s first game. And since ending 2025 7-6, Clemson has made some valuable additions.

The January 2026 transfer window was Dabo Swinney’s most productive ever. He added nine players in total, a stark contrast from his previous stubbornness to adapt to changing times. But his portal shopping didn’t come without some growing pains.

In January, Clemson found themselves in the thick of college football's latest and greatest tampering saga. California’s Luke Ferrelli, the ACC Player of the Year, committed to play for Swinney in the early weeks of 2026. But shortly after attending his first classes at Clemson, purchasing an apartment and attending his first practices, Ferrelli flipped his decision to Ole Miss. It rocked Clemson’s world and sparked an all-time rant at Dabo Swinney’s Jan. 23 press conference.

“We have a broken system. And if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules and we have no governs,” Swinney said.

Ferrelli’s tampering scandal is currently under investigation by the NCAA. In the same article that included bold predictions about Dabo Swinney’s future, The Athletic put forth predictions for Ole Miss’ Pete Golding and the ultimate outcome of the tampering situation.

Grace Raynor, a staff writer for The Athletic, predicted that Golding would be subject to a two-game ban in the 2026 season. If her predictions come true, that’s a sign of progress in terms of rule enforcement for an enraged and adamant Swinney.

But on the other side of that coin, The Athletic predicted a different result from that exact same scenario. While Swinney's wishes from the Ferrelli situation may be granted, the fallout could potentially push him past the point of return.

“DeBoer then goes to Clemson to take over for Dabo Swinney after he gets too distraught over tampering to continue,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel wrote.

Mandel’s prediction also saw Lane Kiffin leave LSU for Alabama after nine games, kicking Kalen DeBoer from Alabama’s head coach post. Given Kiffin’s resume, it’s far from unlikely, but for DeBoer to end up at Clemson would be nothing short of astonishing.

It’s not crazy to predict that 2026 will be a do-or-die year for Swinney, but a replacement coming from Alabama, one of Clemson’s biggest rivals, would really set the world on fire.

But then again, we have seen crazier things happen.