Clemson’s Dabo Swinney wins AP Coach of the Year award

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney was announced as the Associated Press Coach of the Year winner on Monday.

The accolades just keep coming for the Clemson Tigers, and for head coach Dabo Swinney, that adage rings true as well. On Monday, Swinney was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year.

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Swinney led the Tigers to a No. 1 ranking and an undefeated season, with their time spent as the No. 1 team the longest run in school history.

The Clemson head man received 35 of 60 votes from the Associated Press Top 25 media panel while Kirk Ferentz of Iowa was second with 10 votes. Mark Dantonio of Michigan State and Tom Herman of Houston each amassed five votes. Rounding out the voting, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma received three votes and Brian Kelly of Notre Dame and Florida’s Jim McElwain each had one vote per a report from the Associated Press.

“I am very honored to receive the AP National Coach of the Year award,” Swinney said in a statement to the AP on Monday. “Football is a great team sport and any individual honor is a result of having a great group of players and staff. I am blessed to have student-athletes and coaches that believe in what we do. This award is a reflection of their hard work and commitment.”

Prior to Swinney, Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe was the last ACC head coach to win the award and did so in 2006.

With a 13-0 mark, Swinney and the Tigers ran away with the Atlantic Coast Conference and were No. 1 in the polls for the final five weeks of the season and in all six College Football Playoff rankings.

Clemson will face off as the top seed against the fourth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the College Football Playoff Semifinal on December 31 as they begin their quest for their second national championship and their first since 1981.