Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is no longer sitting in the safest chair on the college football coaching carousel.
CBS Sports’ 2026 hot seat rankings, released Wednesday, moved Swinney from last year’s “untouchable” tier all the way down to “pressure is mounting” after the Tigers went 7-6 with a preseason Top 5 team. That’s a three-category drop for a coach who, a year ago, was viewed as one of the sport’s most secure names.
The shift is stark. Last season, Swinney’s average ranking from CBS Sports’ experts was a 0.22 out of 5, which landed him in the lowest and safest of the site’s five categories. This year, with 10 voters weighing in, his average jumped to 3.1 out of 5.
CBS Sports placed 14 coaches in the “pressure is mounting” group, which sits behind only “Win or be fired” and “Start improving now.” South Carolina’s Shane Beamer is among the coaches in that second group.
Clemson’s 2025 season unraveled early. The Tigers, ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP poll, lost three of their first four games and five of their first eight. They finished 4-4 in the ACC and went 3-4 at home, marking the program’s first losing home record since 1998.
It was also Swinney’s worst finish since his 6-7 season in 2010, his second full year on the job.
Even with the rocky season, Swinney’s résumé remains one of the strongest in the sport. He is entering his 18th full season and 19th overall at Clemson, where he has built a 187-53 record.
That makes him the winningest coach in both Clemson and ACC history. He has won national titles in 2016 and 2018 and reached two more title games.
The financial side of the situation is just as massive. Swinney is in the fifth year of a 10-year contract signed in 2031 and is set to make $11.5 million in total salary in 2026 before bonuses, a figure that puts him in the top 10 nationally, according to USA Today Sports’ database. If Clemson were to fire him without cause in 2026 for on-field reasons, the school would owe him $57 million.
Despite the turbulence, Clemson athletic director Graham Neff publicly backed Swinney in December, saying he had “full confidence” in the coach’s leadership.
“I expect that to continue for many, many years ahead,” Neff said Dec 9.
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Sammy also made clear that Max will have to carve out his own path once he gets to Clemson, rather than simply living in his older brothers shadow. For now, Sammys attention stays on the Tigers 2026 season, with any NFL Draft decision something he plans to sort out after the year, but the idea of another Brown in the locker room is already giving Clemson fans something to watch down the road. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger reason the debate is likely to linger is what Clemson has lined up next, starting with a trip to Baton Rouge for an early measuring-stick game against LSU. The Tigers also enter 2026 with major staff continuity and change working at the same time, including Chad Morris back on offense and an expected Year 2 jump on defense under Tom Allen, which should make the next step in the programs arc a lot clearer once the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
National Critic Just Took Dabos Clemson Defense To Another Level
Dabo Swinney built Clemson into one of college footballs defining powers during a blistering run from 2015 through 2019, a stretch that included a 71-5 record and four trips to the national championship game. That history still carries real weight, even as the Tigers have spent the last few seasons trying to recapture the standard that once made them a fixture at the top of the sport.
Paul Finebaum took aim at that disconnect on a recent broadcast, saying Swinneys defense of Clemsons place in the national conversation no longer matches what has happened on the field. The criticism lands harder because Clemson is coming off a 7-6 season after consecutive four-loss years and a preseason No. 4 ranking, leaving the program in the awkward spot of being judged against its own peak while outsiders wonder whether the slide is temporary or something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]