2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson — U.S. President
Dabo Swinney took down the juggernaut in January, winning the second of the last three national championships with the Clemson Tigers. Beating Nick Saban in football games is an impressive enough resume to prove that you’re good at your craft, but Swinney did this as a program builder.
Swinney’s remarkable rise to Clemson’s head coach with multiple title rings began as an assistant in, where else?, Alabama. The Birmingham native, age 49, graduated from the University of Alabama and had several assistant coaching gigs before moving to Clemson. As recently as 2006, Swinney was the Tigers’ wide receivers coach. After becoming interim head coach in 2008, Swinney has written the rest into the history books.
He is young, personable, from impeccable Crimson (Tide) bloodlines, and has a knack for winning. His confidence and his demeanor are hard to match, making him a natural foil for the oft-dour Nick Saban, who’s much more likely to be compared to Bill Belichick. Think of recent Southerners who have become U.S. presidents, such as the either George Bush or Bill Clinton, and Swinney isn’t hard to imagine as a brighter personality than any.