Dabo Swinney was the untouchable architect of a Southern football dynasty for over 10 years. But as the 2026 season draws near, the coat of armor which has shielded the winningest coach of all time in ACC history is wearing visible cracks.
The 10 college football coaches currently facing the “most pressure” in 2026, according to CBS Sports on its 2024 rankings, have Swinney in the uncharacteristic position of No. 7. The ranking comes after a 7-6 campaign in 2025, the second-worst season in Swinney’s 18 years with the team and a string of College Football Playoff failures stretching back to 2019.
“Swinney hasn’t wavered over what he’s done for years, but in the NIL and transfer portal era, it had been a model that delivered uneven results,” wrote Brad Crawford, the CBS Sports writer.
To inject new life into a moribund offense that fell flat in the rankings last year, Swinney made the splashy move to fire offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. Swinney ended up hiring a familiar face in his place: former Clemson assistant and Arkansas head coach Chad Morris.
Viewed by many as a “back to basics” move for a program that had redefined offensive explosiveness in the ACC. But hiring from inside his own “coaching tree,” as opposed to a new one from an outside force, has exacerbated the criticism from a fanbase suspicious of stagnation.
Swinney isn’t the only heavyweight of a regional group feeling the heat. The CBS list paints a bleak picture for several of Clemson’s opponents in 2026:
Mike Norvell (Florida State): No. 1 on the list. After a lackluster five-win campaign and nearly $437 million in athletic department debt, Norvell is essentially coaching for his job when the Tigers travel to Tallahassee over Halloween.
Shane Beamer (South Carolina): Ranked No. 3. After a 4-8 regression in 2025, Beamer essentially "guaranteed" a Playoff position this following year. His chance at a shot at a playoff berth in Columbia could shift from hot to incinerated, should he fail to deliver.
North Carolina’s Bill Belichick (No. 9) and Boston College’s Bill O’Brien (No. 4) each made the top 10, showing that even Super Bowl pedigree doesn’t do much good in the contemporary ACC.
Amid the frenzy, Swinney’s resume still holds its place as the gold standard in the conference. He’s one of only two active coaches, along with Georgia’s Kirby Smart, with multiple rings with 187 career wins, nine ACC titles, and two national championships.
Clemson officials are likely to be hesitant to move on from a living legend in a climate of controversy — especially with the massive buyout the contract probably entails — but CBS Sports also included Swinney among the names to watch in the 2026 “coaching carousel.”
That, a coerced exit or an entirely voluntary exit, remains the $100 million question in the Upstate. The Tigers launch their quest for redemption — and Swinney’s quest for stability — Sept. 19, against Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels.