Four Clemson coaches make 247Sports' All-ACC staff

Dabo Swinney and Mike Reed are recognized as two of the ACC's best coaches.

by TigerNet Staff - Wed Jul 12 17:31:04 GMT-04:00 2023

247Sports did a different spin on the preseason all-conference teams, using a metric to rate the best All-ACC coaching staff going into the 2023 season.

Of no surprise, that kind of list featured a fair share of Clemson coaches, led by head coach Dabo Swinney (90.54 rating).

"Swinney owns two national titles and is 161-39, tying for the fifth-most wins through 200 games in college football history," 247Sports' Brandon Marcello writes. "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. Swinney has coached Clemson in 10 College Football Playoff games and is 2-2 in the national championship. The offense has been a bit more inconsistent since 2020, particularly at quarterback and receiver, but hope is renewed with quarterback Cade Klubnik entering his first year as the full-time starter with the recently-hired coordinator Garrett Riley, the architect of TCU's explosive offense last season, retooling plans."

Speaking of Riley, the All-ACC honors list FSU head coach Mike Norvell under the offensive coordinators (95.41 rating), but Clemson's Riley is there as the top ACC QBs coach (86.08).

"Riley was the hottest coach on the market in 2022 after helping propel TCU into the College Football Playoff," said Marcello. "The offensive coordinator improved TCU into a top-10 scoring offense while also leading the nation in explosive plays of more than 50 yards. He won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach and quarterback Max Duggan was named the nation's top quarterback as the winner of the Davey O'Brien Award. Duggan was also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. Previously, Riley's offenses ranked in the top 15 at SMU in his two seasons calling plays."

Curiously absent on the defensive side is the Coach Rating Index's Top 4 overall coach Lemanski Hall, but Clemson defensive back coaches Mike Reed (79.07) and Mickey Conn (80.57) are on it.

"Conn and Reed might be the best coaching duo in the ACC. They have long been the best tandem of defensive back coaches. The duo shared FootballScoop's defensive backs coach of the year award in 2019. Reed won the award in 2015," said Marcello. "Conn and Reed have produced at least one All-American or All-ACC defensive back in every season at Clemson while coaching some of the best pass defenses in the country. Most recently, cornerbacks Andrew Booth Jr. and Mario Goodrich became the first duo to sweep first-team All-ACC honors since North Carolina did it in 1997. Last season Nate Wiggins broke up 12 passes, the most at Clemson since 2011."

One explanation for Hall's absence may be that he is not the sole defensive line coach and shares the area with Nick Eason, while All-ACC pick Charley Wiles of NC State is the lone D-line coach there.