Dabo Swinney ranks fifth-best in this head coaching metric according to 247Sports

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is graded as the fifth-best coach in college football according to the Coach Rating Index, says 247Sports.

by TigerNet Staff - Wed Jun 28 09:31:05 GMT-04:00 2023

247Sports went back to the Coach Rating Index to assess the Top 10 head coaches in the nation and Clemson's Dabo Swinney is a little lower than most rankings have him.

Swinney checked in at No. 5 among head coaches nationally, as one of five coaches to carry a 5-star rating by the metric.

"Dabo Swinney is still atop the ACC after winning a(n eighth) conference title but a recent slide on offense has led to some impatience among fans," said 247Sports' Brandon Marcello. "Still, Swinney is among the best coaches in college football history...The drop from Nos. 5 to 6 on the list is more drastic than the fall from Nos. 4 to 5, hammering home just how great the top five coaches have been throughout their careers.

"Swinney owns two national titles and is 161-39, tying for the fifth-most wins through 200 games in college football history. Clemson won at least 12 games in five straight seasons, tying for the best streak in the modern era, and is also one of only three programs to record 12 consecutive 10-win seasons...How will Clemson handle the rise of Florida State this fall? Stay tuned."

Swinney holds a CRI rating of 90.54, which trails Alabama's Nick Saban (98.54), Georgia's Kirby Smart (94.31), Southern Cal's Lincoln Riley (94.26) and Ohio State's Ryan Day (93.38).

247Sports examined the Top 10 graded coaches overall recently and judged Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall to be the fourth-best in the nation (97.22).

"Lemanski Hall has developed some of the best defensive ends in college football over the last five years. In short order he has coached players to seven All-ACC honors since 2018. Keep in mind this is with only two starters on the field. Both starters (Myles Murphy and K.J. Henry) earned All-ACC honors in 2022. In just five seasons, Clelin Ferrell (consensus All-American), Xavier Thomas, Murphy and Henry became household names. Production has been outrageous, too," Marcello said. "Clemson broke school records for sacks (54), the third most in the sport since 2000, while also winning a national title in 2018. The Tigers recorded 44 sacks, the fourth most in the nation last season.

"What's next for Hall? Job opportunities are sure to increase soon."

The system is developed by Matrix Analytical, which consults with athletic departments on items such as coaching searches. They explain the methodology like this: The CRI is "a massive grading system with over 30,000 individual unit profiles and over 250,000 annual coaching result reports. If a coach was designated in an on-field role in that time span in either the FBS or FCS levels, he is in the database with a career number rating & accompanying career star rating."

Position coaches are "graded on the cumulative play-by-play effectiveness of their unit." Coordinators are graded on per-play efficiency. Head coaches are "graded on their win and loss records broken down and weighted by difficulty/importance in nine distinct categories ranging from expected close margin games to how they perform in games with equivalent talent profiles."

Coaches are not on even playing fields. Coaches like Nick Saban and Kirby Smart obviously have more talented players than other coaches, which is also considered in Matrix Analytical's ratings. "A coach's rating is weighted by the talent profile he had to work with in his career. Do more with less against rosters or units with more and the rating reflects that accordingly."