If you're a Clemson football fan, the past decade of your life has been nice. You've witnessed your team win two national titles and several ACC championships while fielding some of the best players in the country and arguably the best coach in the sport currently.
Having one of the best coaches in college football of the past decade has been a blessing, but Tiger fans have to know that Dabo Swinney is probably hated by a lot of fanbases.
Every team's head coach has opposing fans that just hate them for either no reason at all or there's a specific moment that instilled that disdain. For Swinney, it's mostly because he just wins so much and does so in his own way and doesn't apologize for it.
While other schools hate Dabo, who do Clemson fans hate? Here are three coaches who Clemson fans just can't stand.
1. Nick Saban
Yes, yes, I know: Nick Saban is retired. He can't hurt Clemson anymore, and vice versa. Clemson and Alabama have met four times since 2016 and the Tigers and Tide split those games. Saban also beat Clemson eight years prior to that 2016 matchup, taking Tommy Bowden down 34-10 in 2008.
While Saban didn't quite "have Clemson's number", he was just annoying enough to make Clemson fans hate him because he was usually the last man standing between the Tigers and a title.
Saban is hated by a lot of fanbases, but Clemson especially for all of those matchups, even after he retired. He'll be hated in Clemson for quite some time, and deservedly so.
2. Shane Beamer
Clemson has absolutely dominated the all-time series against South Carolina, but that doesn't mean fans hate Shane Beamer any less because of that.
Beamer has been a major thorn in Clemson's side over the past four years, splitting the rivalry series with the Tigers 2-2 in that span. He just beat Clemson in 2024, nearly ruining the Tigers' playoff hopes at home. That game still stings when you think back on it, but there's just something about losing to the Gamecocks at home and seeing Beamer fist-pumping that really boils blood in Clemson.
South Carolina is the most hated rival and Beamer happens to be the outspoken, emotional head coach of that rival. The hatred comes easy here.
3. Brian Kelly
I know this feels like such a random choice, but I don't think Mike Norvell has been successful enough at Florida State to hate too much. And I do think that Marcus Freeman will replace Brian Kelly on this list in a few years when Clemson and Notre Dame get back to playing every season.
When Kelly was at Notre Dame, he was annoying. Clemson fans didn't like him, especially in 2020 when the Irish beat the Tigers 47-40 in the regular season before getting revenge in the ACC title game 34-10 (yes, this was the lone year Notre Dame was in the ACC). Kelly was just 1-3 against Clemson in his time at Notre Dame, but now he's meeting the Tigers again in 2025 with LSU.
Kelly is one of those coaches who has become easy to hate because he's known for being just wild on the sidelines during the game and throwing his players under the bus instead of taking accountability after games.
Although he's not just hated by Clemson fans, they will renew that hatred this fall when the Tigers meet LSU.