Dabo Swinney drops in 247Sports preseason coaches ranking |
247Sports released a ranking of
the top-35 coaches in college football on Wednesday and ranked Clemson head coach
Dabo Swinney fourth overall.
Ahead of Swinney are Kirby Smart of Georgia, Nick Saban of Alabama and Jim Harbaugh of Michigan. Swinney was third on the list last year. "All this speculation about Swinney possibly losing his grip on the ACC at Clemson, and he goes out and wins the conference in 2022, then hires the nation's top assistant to call plays to begin the Cade Klubnik era next fall," said 247Sports' Brad Crawford. "It's not time to sell all your stock on the Tigers as an annual national championship contender just yet. Swinney has two national titles at Clemson but hasn't played a playoff game since 2020. He's hoping to lead the program back to that opportunity in 2023." Of the top quartet, Smart, Saban and Swinney have multiple national titles now, while Harbaugh has a pair of Big Ten titles and Playoff appearances to his name. "Another win over Ohio State, the Big Ten championship and a playoff berth for Harbaugh's Wolverines in 2022. Outside of Georgia's Kirby Smart, no coach nationally has made more noise since the start of the 2021 campaign. He was able to dodge NFL murmurs with a new deal last spring, handled quarterback controversy to open the season and sprinted through the Big Ten's gauntlet unscathed as the league's top coach. Will Harbaugh and Michigan go for the trifecta in 2023? He needs a playoff win," said Crawford. Swinney's Tigers have made the Playoff six times and the national championship game, four, with the last CFP appearance in 2020 and the last title game shot in 2019. Swinney's Clemson teams have also notched eight ACC titles since the 2011 season.
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