Ranking every Clemson football season under Dabo Swinney’s leadership
The Clemson football program has ascended to new heights under the leadership of Dabo Swinney.
Swinney, who started off as a Wide Receivers Coach for Clemson football, was promoted to Interim Head Coach at the midway point of the 2008 season following the resignation of Tommy Bowden. No one would’ve expected what would happen next.
Since the point of his hiring as the full-time Head Coach following the 2008 season, Swinney has gone on to lead Clemson football to two National Titles, six ACC Championships and five CFB Playoff appearances.
As we look back at the Dabo Swinney era, here’s a look at our rankings of every single Clemson football season under the direction of the Tigers’ coach.
*On this list, you’ll see the record and notable games. For notable games, we listed ranked wins, notable losses and particularly memorable moments.*
11. 2010 (Questions Abound)
Record: 6-7
Notable Games:
- 27-24 loss to No. 16 Auburn
- 29-7 loss to No. 18 South Carolina
- 31-26 loss to South Florida in the Meineki Car Care Bowl
We’ll start out with the worst season under Dabo Swinney.
The Tigers finished barely bowl eligible and they lost several games to bad teams. One of the games we most remember is the loss at Auburn where Clemson had an opportunity to beat the Cam Newton led Tigers on the road- who would go on to win the National Championship- but simply couldn’t get the job done.
The offense was absolutely atrocious during this season, only mustering 30 points or more a total of four times and two of those were against North Texas and Presbyterian.
10. 2009 (C.J. Spiller does it all)
Record: 9-5
Notable Games:
- 40-37 win at No. 8 Miami
- 40-24 win vs. Florida State
- 34-17 loss at South Carolina
- 39-34 loss to No. 12 Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship
- 21-13 win over Kentucky in Music City Bowl
There’s no question that C.J. Spiller made a difference on this team that can’t be stressed enough.
Spiller carried the offense and he kept the Tigers in games they likely wouldn’t have won without him.
Spiller almost single-handedly led Clemson to a victory over Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game and there’s no question that Spiller truly helped cushion the transition for Dabo Swinney in his first full season as the Head Coach.
9. 2014 (Ending the Streak)
Record: 10-3
Notable Games:
- 45-21 loss to No. 12 Georgia
- 23-17 loss at No. 1 Florida State
- 50-35 win vs. North Carolina
- 35-17 win vs. South Carolina
- 40-6 win vs. Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl
While the 2014 season certainly didn’t start out as many Clemson football fans wanted, the Tigers were still able to build the program as they found their new QB- a guy by the name of Deshaun Watson.
Though Watson split time with Cole Stoudt for the beginning of the season, he officially earned the starting job the week of the UNC game and the Tigers ended up beating the Tarheels 50-35.
Watson went on to lead Clemson to a victory over in-state rival South Carolina- ending the Gamecocks’ streak of five-straight over the Tigers- and it was later found out that he had played the entire game on a torn ACL, officially beginning the legend of Watson.
8. 2011 (First ACC Championship)
Record: 10-4
Notable Games:
- 38-24 win vs. No. 21 Auburn
- 35-30 win vs. No. 11 Florida State
- 23-3 win at No. 11 Virginia Tech
- 31-17 loss at Georgia Tech
- 34-13 loss at No. 14 South Carolina
- 38-10 win vs. No. 5 Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship
- 70-33 loss to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl
For the next season ranked, you have to go back a few years.
After an abysmal 2010 season- the worst in the Dabo era- Clemson finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and made the trip to the ACC Championship for the second time in the past three seasons. Though most analysts didn’t give them a chance, they came away with a big-time 38-10 win over No. 5 Virginia Tech to win their first conference title in more than two decades.
Clemson also went on to lose the Orange Bowl 70-33 to West Virginia. While that is a loss many Tiger fans would like to forget, it did lead to the firing of Kevin Steele and the subsequent hiring of Brent Venables, and we all know how that turned out.
7. 2013 (Taking the next step)
Record: 11-2
Notable Games:
- 38-35 win vs. No. 5 Georgia
- 51-14 loss to No. 5 Florida State
- 31-17 loss at No. 10 South Carolina
- 40-35 win vs. No. 7 Ohio State in the Orange Bowl
The 2013 season was one of those cases where Clemson football fans were putting the cart a little before the horse.
What do I mean?
The Tigers came into the season ranked No. 8 in the country with names like Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins leading the way. There was a serious hope- especially after the huge victory over Georgia to begin the season- that this team was ready to compete for a National Championship.
This team certainly had talent, but they weren’t quite ready yet. Still, there were plenty of milestones, including a win over Ohio State in the Orange Bowl to conclude the season.
6. 2017 (CFB Playoff berth)
Record: 12-2
Notable Games:
- 14-6 win vs. No. 13 Auburn
- 47-21 win at No. 14 Louisville
- 31-17 win at No. 12 Virginia Tech
- 27-24 loss at Syracuse
- 34-10 win at South Carolina
- 38-3 win vs. No. 7 Miami in ACC Championship
- 24-6 loss to No. 4 Alabama in CFB Playoff
The 2017 Clemson football season is one that many Tigers forget about simply because it didn’t end with a National Championship appearance.
Despite that, there were certainly some high moments. Clemson continued its streak against South Carolina with a win in Williams-Brice Stadium, the Tigers thrashed No. 7 Miami in the ACC Championship game and they came away four victories against ranked opponents in the regular season.
5. 2012 (Program-Defining Victory)
Record: 11-2
Notable Games:
- 49-37 loss at No. 4 Florida State
- 27-17 loss vs. No. 13 South Carolina
- 25-24 win vs. No. 9 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl
The 2012 season has a special place in the hearts of Clemson football fans and that’s exactly why it ranks so high on this list.
The Tigers lost just two games in the regular season to two really good teams- Florida State and South Carolina- but the 10-2 record was not the reason that this season is so memorable. The reason this seasons ranks so high is because of one defining moment: The win over LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Ask any Clemson football fan and they’ll tell you that victory was the turning point. It took the program to new heights and was the building block for what we would see just a few years later.
Perhaps this season shouldn’t be ranked ahead of a year where the Tigers made the CFB Playoff, but I just have a hard time putting it any lower because of the significance of what that win meant to the program in the long-run.
4. 2019 (Continuing Dominance)
Record: 14-1
Notable Games:
- 24-10 win vs. No. 12 Texas A&M
- 38-3 win vs. South Carolina
- 62-17 win vs. Virginia in the ACC Championship
- 29-23 win vs. Ohio State in CFB Playoff
- 42-25 loss to LSU in National Championship
Next on our list is the most recent season of Clemson football that we’ve seen.
The Tigers continued their dominance, finishing the regular season undefeated and followed that up with a record-setting 62-17 win over Virginia in the ACC Championship. Clemson extended its ACC Championship winning streak to five, winning streak over South Carolina to six, and extended its CFB Playoff streak to five seasons.
Clemson might not have gotten the job done in the National Championship game- albeit against a historically-great LSU team- but they did pick up a win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and showed the rest of the nation that they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
3. 2015 (Reaching new Heights)
Record: 14-1
Notable Games:
- 24-22 win vs. No. 6 Notre Dame
- 23-13 win vs. No. 17 Florida State
- 37-32 win at South Carolina
- 45-37 win vs. No. 8 UNC in ACC Championship
- 37-17 win vs. No. 4 Oklahoma in CFB Playoff
- 45-40 loss to Alabama in National Championship
One could certainly make the argument that the 2019 season should be ahead of the 2015 season, but I think there’s something to be said for what that team did and what the newness of being on the big stage felt like to Clemson football fans.
It was absolutely surreal.
Clemson recorded several wins over top-25 opponents- including a rain-soaked win over Notre Dame- and finished the season undefeated. The Tigers blew out Oklahoma in their first-ever CFB Playoff game and gave Alabama everything it could handle in the National Championship.
Fans were confident Deshaun Watson and the rest of the Tigers would be back the following season and the game gave fans a sense of security that this program wasn’t going to just be a ‘one-hit-wonder.’
2. 2016 (The first National Championship)
Record: 14-1
Notable Games:
- 42-36 win vs. No. 3 Louisville
- 37-34 win at No. 12 Florida State
- 43-42 loss to Pittsburgh
- 56-7 win vs. South Carolina
- 42-35 win vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech in ACC Championship
- 31-0 win vs. No. 2 Ohio State in CFB Playoff
- 35-31 win vs. No. 1 Alabama in National Championship
Can you remember the feeling of elation you experienced when Deshaun Watson hit Hunter Renfrow in the end zone to give Clemson a lead over Alabama in the waning seconds of the 2017 National Championship game? Of course you can.
This team entered the 2016 season with one goal in mind: To beat Alabama and win the National Title.
They fell short against Pittsburgh, but vowed that they would never lose another game that year. And they didn’t.
Deshaun Watson showed his brilliance and capped off his storybook Clemson football career with what many consider to still be the biggest win in program history.
1. 2018 (Best Ever)
Record: 15-0
Notable Games:
- 28-26 win at Texas A&M
- 41-7 win vs. No. 16 NC State
- 27-7 win at No. 17 Boston College
- 42-10 win vs. Pittsburgh in ACC Championship
- 30-3 win vs. No. 3 Notre Dame in CFB Playoff
- 44-16 win vs. Alabama in National Championship
*This is the only season in the Dabo Swinney era where the Tigers didn’t lose a single game*
Many may consider the 2016 season to be ahead of the 2018 season simply because of the amount of top-25 teams the Tiger faced in the regular season and the fact that it ended with the first National Championship and that’s a valid argument.
Also, from a fan’s perspective, there were many more exciting moments during that 2016 season than in the 2018 season, but you have to look at the dominance to truly appreciate why this is the best season Dabo Swinney’s coaching career.
The Tigers simply didn’t lose. They played a total of one close game the entire season and finished as the first 15-0 team in the modern era of College Football.
All of that was done with a freshman QB at the helm by the name of Trevor Lawrence.
Oh, and I didn’t even mention that Clemson capped off its amazing run with a dominating 44-16 win over Alabama, officially taking the throne as the king of College Football.
Clemson was simply better than every team in the country that season and that dominance shouldn’t be taken for granted or forgotten. ‘Best Ever’ is a real argument for this team and it’s clear that Swinney will always remember this group for the special feat they were able to accomplish.