By Dan Zealley
The top 5 coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Records are at the current school and in the ACC.
1. Dabo Swinney, Clemson (Entering 18th year)
Overall record: 180–47; Conference record: 109–24
Dabo Swinney was a wide receiver, graduate assistant and assistant coach at Alabama from 1990-2000. From April 2001 through February 2003, he did not coach and instead worked as a commercial real estate salesman. Tommy Bowden, Swinney’s former position coach at Alabama, offered him the position of wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Clemson in 2003. He was named the interim head football coach after Bowden resigned six games into the 2008 season. Swinney has led the Tigers to nine ACC championships (2011, 2015–2020, 2022, 2024) and two national championships (2016, 2018). Swinney is not only a top coach in the ACC, but in the entire country and after just one year out, Swinney led the Tigers back to the College Football Playoff in 2024.
2. Mario Cristobal, Miami (Entering fourth year)
Overall record: 22–16; Conference record: 12–12
Mario Cristobal returned to his alma mater in 2022 after spending five seasons as the head coach at Oregon. He went 35–13 with the Ducks. He has been attempting to turn around the Miami program that had been down in recent years. They may have turned the corner in 2024. The Hurricanes went 10-3 and finished third in the ACC at 6-2.
Mario Cristobal talks Cam Ward, Carson Beck, & more🔥 pic.twitter.com/JsbboArk5P
— Grant (@NMDgrant) February 25, 2025
They were in consideration for the CFP until a late loss at Syracuse. Expectations are high in South Florida and now he will need to build on last year’s success and get Miami in the playoff.
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3. Brent Key, Georgia Tech (Entering fourth year)
Overall record: 18-16; Conference record: 14-9
Brent Key began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech in 2001. He was an assistant at Western Kentucky, UCF and Alabama.
He came back to his alma mater, Georgia Tech, as assistant head coach and offensive line coach in 2019. He became interim head coach in 2022. The Yellow Jackets went 4-4 with wins over No. 13 North Carolina and No. 24 Pitt. Key was named head coach following that season. Key had led the Jackets to back-to-back 7-6 seasons with bowl berths. With close games and wins against top 25 teams, Key has the fans in Atlanta looking forward to a bright future.
4. Rhett Lashlee, SMU (Entering fourth year)
Overall record: 11-3; Conference record: 8-0
The SMU Mustangs won the regular season title and made the CFP in their first year in the ACC. Rhett Lashlee was named ACC Coach of the Year. Lashlee spent time as offensive coordinator at Samford, Arkansas State, Auburn, UConn, SMU and Miami (Fla.) before returning to SMU as head coach in 2021. The Mustangs went 19-9 in his first two years while they were still in the American Athletic Conference. SMU made the move up to the Power Four and took the ACC by storm. They went 8-0 in conference, played in the conference championship and earned an at-large bid to the CFP. Lashlee and the Mustangs will be a player in the ACC for years to come.
5. Fran Brown,Syracuse (Entering second year)
Overall record: 10-3; Conference record: 5-3
In 2024, the Syracuse Orange had their first 10-win season since 2018 under first-year coach Fran Brown. That included a 52-35 Holiday Bowl win over Washington State. Brown was an assistant coach at Temple, Baylor and Rutgers before taking a position at Georgia in 2022. Brown helped guide the Bulldogs to the 2022 National Championship. Brown is widely considered one of the top recruiters in college football. He was hired at Syracuse in November 2023. Syracuse fans are thrilled with the results of Fran Brown’s first year, but now expectations will be even higher.
Fran Brown was asked tonight if he felt he achieved his goals in his first year as head coach by going 9-3.
His answer?
"I wanted to go to the national championship, there was nothing else on my mind except trying to repeat what happened in 1959…but I guess this is progress." pic.twitter.com/z1hsPS1OGf
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) December 1, 2024
There were three coaches that were left off this list for various reasons, but were strongly considered:
Marcus Freeman: Notre Dame is not in the ACC for football. They play five ACC games each year, but they’re not in the ACC. He would be No. 2 on the list.
Mike Norvell: He was on the “hot seat” prior to the 2023 season. FSU went 13-1 and things cooled off. After a 2-10 season, things have heated back up.
Bill Belichick: Probably the best NFL coach ever, but has never coached a game in college football.
