Here we go again. Dabo Swinney, the man who built Clemson into a college football powerhouse, finds himself at No. 3 on RotoWire’s latest list of so-called 'most hated' coaches in the country. Shocking, right? Yet another national outlet is taking their shot at one of the game’s most accomplished head coaches.
Swinney, never one to bite his tongue and with the trophy case to prove it, finished just behind LSU’s Lane Kiffin and Colorado’s Deion Sanders in this latest national popularity contest.
According to RotoWire, Swinney’s spot near the top comes down to his refusal to just go along with the latest trends in college football. He’s been vocal about his issues with NIL and the wild west that is the transfer portal, and apparently, that rubs some folks the wrong way—at least outside of Clemson, where his old-school approach is still appreciated.
RotoWire didn’t hold back in explaining why Swinney cracked their top three.
“He’s won big and then sermonizes about how he did it. The anti-transfer-portal, anti-NIL stances land as preachy in a sport that has moved on without him,” RotoWire said. “Not every villain is loud. Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart draw their share of national contempt simply by dominating – and, in Swinney’s case, by lecturing the sport about how he does it. Sustained excellence is one of the surest ways to make the rest of the country want to see you lose.”
How did they come up with this list?
RotoWire insists this isn’t just about a handful of angry tweets. They say they measured fan sentiment across social media and even tossed in a national survey to try and get what they call an objective read on public opinion.
“To build this ranking, RotoWire weighted two inputs equally: 50% social fan-sentiment analysis across Reddit, X and Facebook, and 50% a 500-person fan survey. The result measures national feeling, not how a coach is viewed by his own fan base – where several names on this list rank among the most beloved in the country.”
LSU’s Lane Kiffin took the top spot, with RotoWire pointing out that he’s never shied away from stirring the pot—especially after his latest headline-grabbing moves.
“The sport’s original troll. Press-conference jabs and relentless social-media needling make him public enemy No. 1 everywhere but his own sideline – and the move to LSU in the middle of Ole Miss’ title chase only widened the audience,” RotoWire wrote.
The ACC made its presence felt, tying the Big Ten with six coaches on the list. Not exactly a shocker, considering the cast of characters patrolling the sidelines in this league these days.
Alongside Swinney, the ACC’s representatives in RotoWire’s index include Miami’s Mario Cristobal, North Carolina’s Bill Belichick, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Pittsburgh’s Pat Narduzzi, and Virginia Tech’s James Franklin.
People can say whatever they want about Swinney, but the numbers don’t lie. He’s put together a 187-53 record at Clemson, nine ACC titles, and two national championships. Only one other active coach in America can claim more than one national title. That’s the kind of success that tends to make the rest of the country jealous.
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