ACC Football 2018: Midseason awards and superlatives

Coach of the year

Had Syracuse bounced back from the near loss to Clemson and handled a bad Pitt team this would easily have been Dino Babers’ award. Yet, Babers let the Orange collapse against the lowly Panthers losing 33-44 in Week 6. If coaches David Cutcliffe and Dave Doeren can keep their strong seasons going against better competition they could be up for COTY at season’s end, just like Miami’s Mark Richt.

However, the clear favorite here has to be Dabo Swinney. Swinney’s Tigers have overcome a lot for a perennial ACC Champion and top-5 program. The Tigers decided to sit Kelly Bryant for freshman sensation Trevor Lawrence and Bryant chose the route of sitting out the season. Alabama’s Nick Saban managed to keep Jalen Hurts around and playing and Miami’s Malik Rosier has continued to mentor N’Kosi Perry. You can’t fault Swinney or Bryant on their decision in the moment.

Bryant described his demotion as a slap in the face after guiding the Tigers to an ACC Championship in 2017 and posting a 16-2 record. Bryant chose to sit the same week that Lawrence was named starter, and subsequently knocked out of the game. Sure, Bryant could’ve stayed, walked in, and whether he won or lost Lawrence was going to be the starter when healthy.

Through all of that and winning tough games against Syracuse and Texas A&M, Dabo is currently the coach of the year. It’s hard to keep a program motivated where many of its members are about to head off to big NFL contracts while your quarterback situation is anything but happy. Yet Swinney’s Tigers continue to win and bounced back strong against Wake Forest letting the ACC know they’re still the king.