College Football: Ranking 10 best head coaches from past 5 seasons

Dabo Swinney (continue)

In 2017, Dabo Swinney and his team had a good year but due to the amazing achievements and success of the past two seasons, this season in comparison did not meet the extremely high expectations that are now expected of the Clemson program.

During the span of the first five games of the season, Clemson did very well in defeating three top 15 ranked teams. First, the Tigers defeated No. 13 Auburn and then on the road and then Tigers beat No. 14 Louisville and No. 12 Virginia Tech. After beating Wake Forest, Clemson traveled to play Syracuse.

The Orange entered the game with a 3-3 record. The Tigers were 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country. Syracuse jumped on Clemson early and entered halftime with a 17-14 lead. The offenses for both teams would cool down in the second half and Swinney and his team tied the game heading into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter of the game, it was a defensive battle where no points were scored on offense. However, the Orange’s special teams came up big as Syracuse’s field kicker made the game-winning field goal to give them the upset over No.  2 Clemson.

The Tigers would rebound winning their next five games to once again clinch the Atlantic Division title. Clemson would play No. 7 Miami in the ACC title game. The Tigers would dominate the Hurricanes by a final score of 38-3 to capture the ACC title for the third consecutive year.

The No. 1 seed Clemson Tigers would once again face off against Alabama in the College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide did not win the SEC in 2017, so they were the No. 4 seed in the Sugar Bowl matchup between them and the Tigers. In a somewhat of a surprise, Alabama’s defense absolutely dominated Clemson’s offense. The Crimson Tide would easily cruise to a 24-6 victory over Swinney and his team. Clemson’s season was over but they were focused on redemption for next season.

Entering the 2018 season, Swinney and his team had one goal and that was to win a national championship. Clemson’s season set up nicely for them as they would not play a ranked opponent in non-conference play and seven of the nine ACC opponents that the Tigers would face in the reason were not ranked. The two that were ranked that Clemson would face in 2018 were not in the top 15.

Not everything came easy for Swinney and his team as in their second game of the season they struggled late in their road game at Texas A&M. Clemson had played well the first three quarters leading the Aggies 28-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Texas A&M’s defense would shut out the Tigers in the fourth quarter and the Aggies offense would put up 13 points making it a two-point game. Texas A&M had an opportunity to tie the game but failed on its two-point conversation attempt.

Clemson would once again have difficulty with Syracuse. At home, the Orange in the first half looked like they were going to upset Swinney and his team again. Syracuse led 16-7 at the half. In the second half, the Tigers would respond outscoring the Orange 20-7 to give Clemson a 27-23 win.

Swinney would have his team dominating their next four opponents scoring a total of 240 points over the span of those four games and only allowing a total of 36 points during that same time frame. Even in the following to games where Clemson defeated No. 17 Boston College and Duke, they combined outscored them 62-13.

After defeating their in-state rival South Carolina in a high scoring affair, Clemson would face Pittsburgh in the ACC title game. The No. 2 ranked Tigers as they had but in all but two games in the season, they easily controlled the game and easily defeated the Panthers by a final score of 42-10. The Tigers captured their fourth straight ACC conference title and they earned the No. 2 seed in the playoff.

In the Cotton Bowl of the semifinals of the college football playoffs, Clemson would face No. 3 seed Notre Dame. As they did in six previous games, the Tigers defense held the Fight Irish’s defense to single digits. Clemson’s offense for the 11th time in 2018, put up 30 or more points to help them defeat Notre Dame 30-3. For the fourth straight year, Swinney and his team would face a similar opponent in the playoff.

Alabama had won two of the last three meetings but Clemson arguably was playing as well as any team in America entering this game. After a close and entertaining first quarter where the Tigers were leading the Crimson Tide 14-13, Swinney and his team took over in the second quarter. Clemson scored 17 points in the second quarter and 13 points in the third while limiting Alabama to only three points in the second quarter and none in the second half.

The Tigers dominated Alabama for two quarters and didn’t need to score in the final quarter as Clemson easily won 44-16.

Swinney and his program had won their second national title in three years and 2018 was his first time, however, that he lead his team to an undefeated season. An argument can definitely be made that this was Swinney’s best team as they clearly demonstrated in their victory over Alabama.

The beginning of the 2019 season looked a lot like the previous year as Clemson’s offense was solid and the defense was relentless. The Tigers set the tone in the season opener by defeating Georgia Tech by 38 points. They then had a great game led by their stellar defense as they beat No. 12 ranked Texas A&M, 24-10.

Even against Syracuse, which has given the Tigers trouble in recent years, Clemson easily defeated the Orange 41-6. In the regular season, Swinney and his team would only have one close game in which they were in danger of losing.

On the road against North Carolina, the Tar Heels jumped out to a 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter. Clemson would tie the game up at 14 going into the half. After a scoreless third quarter, the Tigers would score to take the lead. North Carolina scored a touchdown but instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game, they elected to go for the two-point conversation. Fortunately for Clemson, the Tar Heels did not covert the two-point and the Tigers won the game by a point.

No team in ACC play what even come close to challenging Swinney and his team the following months.

In October and November, Clemson played seven games. In that span of games, the Tigers offense averaged just over 50 points a game and the defense only allowed just below nine points per game. Swinney and his team dominated the competition and easily won the division title for the fifth season in a row.

Clemson was undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country heading into the ACC title game against No. 23 ranked Virginia. The Tigers did not only beat the Cavaliers they dominated them by very easily defeating them by a final score of 62-17. If Swinney wanted to win back-to-back national titles, he had a tough road ahead of him starting with a showdown with No. 2 Ohio State.

In arguably the most anticipated semifinal game of the playoff era, the game lived up to the hype. The Buckeyes played very well early but were unable to convert that play into a lot of points in the first quarter as they only ended up with 10. After a stellar defensive first quarter for Ohio State, Clemson got going and scored two touchdowns. The Tigers’ defense stepped up as well, only allowing Ohio State to score six points in the second quarter. Even with two-point halftime led for the Buckeyes, Clemson had momentum heading into the second half.

In the second half of the Fiesta Bowl college football semifinal matchup between the two heavyweight programs, Clemson’s defense would shut out the high-powered Buckeye offense in the third quarter and the Tigers’ offense would score a touchdown to take the lead into the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, both teams each scored a touchdown and Ohio State’s failure to score another resulted in a 29-23 victory for the Tigers.

Clemson would face a team in LSU that was the overwhelming favorite to win the game. However, Swinney and his team have been underdogs before and they were going to put forth their best efforts against coach Orgeron and his team.

In the title game, Clemson went toe-to-toe with LSU, ending the first quarter tied at seven. However, Ed Orgeron and his team would score 21 second-quarter points to take a 28-17 halftime lead. LSU only outscored Clemson 14-8 in the second half but that was enough for Swinney and his team to come up short of winning a second straight title.

It may have been a bumpy journey with some not so great early seasons for Dabo in the early part of the decade but now his team is dominating the ACC and is on track to win the conference again and look to not only qualifying for the playoff in 2020 but to win another national championship.

Clemson, along with Alabama, is considered the most respected and powerful college football programs in the entire nation. Swinney is responsible for that and he is ranked No. 1 on this list should not surprise anyone.

Like Nick Saban, he built a kingdom and has started building an empire that will last for years to come. However, in the past five seasons, Swinney overall by the numbers has outperformed him. As the old saying goes, “The numbers don’t lie.”

Point breakdown for Swinney

• 2 National Championships: 100 points
• 5 College Football Playoff appearances: 200 points
• 5 regular-season conference titles: 150 points
• 5 division titles: 100 points
• 6 bowl wins: 60 points
• 9 bowl appearances: 45 points
• 5 seasons with 10 or more wins: 25 points

Total coaching points: 680

Coaching highlights over the past five seasons

• Led Clemson to two national titles in 2016, 2018
• Led Tigers to five consecutive College Football Playoff appearances
• 5 ACC titles (2015-19)
• 5 ACC Atlantic titles (2015-19)

Who would you rank as your No. 1 coach of the past five years?