Dabo Swinney, Clemson’s head coach and the winner of two national titles, came off the board at No. 14 overall in On3’s 10-round mock draft of college football coaches. Yes, you read that right—No. 14.
The draft, which played out on an On3 podcast, saw analysts Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman go back and forth picking their top head coaches for the 2026 season. Wasserman snagged Swinney in the second round.
Wasserman took Swinney just after Staples grabbed Virginia Tech’s James Franklin at No. 13. The deciding factor? Swinney’s championship pedigree, even with the bumps Clemson has hit in the regular season lately.
"Now I'm gonna move on, and I'm going to do something that I'm unsure of...I'm gonna go ahead and take the coach that has won two national titles. I'm going to take Dabo Swinney," Wasserman said. "And I understand the risks involved in this, I understand that things seem to be coming to a head in Clemson. Last year was an absolute nightmare for him and his program and their fans, but I have not given up because they had a team in this era that produced eight draft picks. So he's already proven to me that he can at least assemble a roster with good players. I would be more alarmed if they went 7-6 with bad players, although that doesn't make any sense, because it's a coaching malfunction. But do you think Dabo Swinney just forgot how to coach? Do we think he forgot how to coach games?
"I thought he forgot how to build a roster, but I think this is kind of a value play. And this might look bad in a few years, I don't know where things are headed, but give me a person that I have the utmost respect for. A person that (has done what) very few coaches on this list have done anywhere, and I will just do my best if this doesn't age poorly. But I think from a value standpoint, taking him this late -- I'll take him and put him on my list."
Staples agreed that Clemson’s roster is still loaded heading into 2026.
"That's the thing, he still has a good roster...The roster looks like a Playoff roster still," he said.
Swinney wasn’t the only ACC coach to get a nod. Wasserman also took Miami’s Mario Cristobal at No. 6 overall.
On3’s Nick Kosko weighed in, putting Cristobal firmly in the sport’s upper echelon of head coaches.
"We knew Cristobal was amongst the upper tier of college football coaches when he was at Oregon. When he took over Miami, it was a landmark hire, bringing an alum back to resurrect the program," On3's Nick Kosko wrote. "While it took a few years, Cristobal has this thing rolling, especially after leading the Hurricanes to the national championship last year. He’s 35-19 at Miami and 97-79 overall with FIU, Oregon and Miami. Solid pick from Wasserman."
For those keeping score, the top five picks went like this: Indiana’s Curt Cignetti at No. 1 to Staples, Georgia’s Kirby Smart at No. 2 to Wasserman, Ohio State’s Ryan Day at No. 3 to Staples, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman at No. 4 to Wasserman, and Texas’ Steve Sarkisian at No. 5 to Staples.
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