Dabo Swinney’s name keeps popping up in the wrong places these days, at least if you’re looking at CBS Sports’ annual hot seat rankings.
The Clemson coach landed at 3.1 in Thursday’s release, which CBS describes as “pressure is mounting.” That’s a sharp drop from where he stood a year ago, when he was all the way down at 0.2 and labeled the most untouchable coach in the ACC.
The number reflects how quickly the conversation around Clemson has shifted. After a 7-6 finish last fall, the noise around Swinney has only gotten louder, even with a roster that produced nine NFL draft picks, a school record. The biggest complaint has been his reluctance to adapt to the changing college football landscape.
That criticism comes against the backdrop of what Clemson used to be under Swinney. From 2015 through 2020, the Tigers won six straight ACC titles, reached the College Football Playoff every season, claimed two national championships and played for two more. Over that run, Clemson went 79-7 overall and 49-3 in ACC play.
The last few seasons have not matched that standard. Since 2021, Clemson is 47-20, still good enough to win two ACC championships, but also marked by two straight postseason losses by double digits.
At Clemson’s annual media day on Tuesday, Swinney pushed back on any suggestion that the program is drifting away from the top.
"We've been to the top many times around here, and we're gonna take Clemson back to the top. That's going to happen," Swinney vowed at Clemson's annual media day on Tuesday.
"Whether it happens this year, I don't know. But my main objective is to make sure we get the arrow pointed back where it needs to be, and that we're a tougher football team mentally.
"I don't know if we'll get all the way to the top of the mountain, but we need to get it pointed back in that direction," Swinney added.
Clemson is hardly the only program with a coach drawing scrutiny heading toward 2026. South Carolina’s Shane Beamer checked in at 4.3, the only SEC coach CBS placed in the “win or be fired” category.
In the ACC, Florida State’s Mike Norvell drew the full 5.0 after a 5-17 stretch over the last two years, while North Carolina’s Bill Belichick was right behind him at 4.3 after the Tar Heels’ 2025 collapse. Swinney was grouped with several other coaches at 3.1, including Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, Colorado’s Deion Sanders and NC State’s Dave Doeren.
On the safer end of the spectrum, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key came in at 0.1, Virginia Tech’s James Franklin at 0.3 and Miami’s Mario Cristobal at 0.5. SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Cal’s Tosh Lupoi were all under 1.0 as well.
Clemson opens the 2026 season on September 5 at LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Lane Kiffin’s CBS hot seat rating is 1.0, which puts him in the safe category.
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