Top 5 rivalries between college football head coaches

3. Mike Norvell (Florida State) vs Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has been on a trend of adding personal attacks and hot takes of NIL deals. Being one of the most powerful figures in college football, Swinney has certainly taken the ability and entitlement to address any issue he wants in any manner he wants. There are times when he goes too far to express his feelings.

In the 2020 Covid-19 filled college football season, there were many measures that the season had to be adjusted. A day before the #4 Clemson Tigers were set to take on the Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee, an offensive lineman for the Tigers tested positive for COVID-19. The Seminoles didn’t want to risk their players and personnel getting COVID, so they canceled the game.

Coach Swinney believed that Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell used this as an excuse to avoid their matchup. Coach Norvell took a slight shot at Dabo, “They can practice symptomatic players. But when it comes to our student-athletes and their well-being, we’re going to rely on our medical advisors to make the best call.”

Going into the 2021 college football season, coach Swinney was asked if he and coach Norvell buried the hatchet, but Swinney said there was never one.

While there is the belief that the tension is gone between the two head coaches, the program and their fan bases continue to hate each other. The back-and-forth feud between the coaches didn’t help the heated rivalry between the Tigers and Seminoles.