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ACC Head Coach Mid-Season Power Rankings

By Caleb Hall

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Mack Brown of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Miami Hurricanes during their game at Kenan Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 41-31. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Mack Brown of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Miami Hurricanes during their game at Kenan Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2023 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Tar Heels won 41-31. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney speaks in the Smart Family Media Center of the Poe Indoor Facility in Clemson, South Carolina.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney speaks in the Smart Family Media Center of the Poe Indoor Facility in Clemson, South Carolina. /

No. 6: Mario Cristobal, Miami Hurricanes

Mario Cristobal has been on a wild ride this college football season. From beating Texas A&M on the road to having the worst time management coaching in the ACC against Georgia Tech to beating Clemson in double OT, Cristobal is unpredictable.

After all that has happened this season, Miami is still 5-2, and after a good win against Clemson, they can still have a good season.

Cristobal seems to be a good head coach in the ACC, he just also seems to like to make the weirdest coaching decisions at any moment in a game. It’s hard to rank somebody like that, but based on what Miami has done this season he’ll remain just outside the top 5.

Cristobal and Miami had a big win over Clemson, and probably sent Dabo Swinney thinking he needs to reevaluate his entire coaching philosophy. Cristobal and Miami are improving week by week, but until he can prove he isn’t playing NCAA Football 23, I’ll have to keep him outside of the top 5 for now.

No. 5: Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers

Is the Clemson dynasty over? Is Dabo not really a good coach? Will Clemson make a bowl game?

These were all questions everyone had when Clemson fell to 4-3 and 2-3 in the ACC last Saturday night. While Dabo certainly needs to look in the mirror to turn this team around, he is still an excellent coach. Is he as good as we thought he was? I’m not sure I can answer that right now, but the fact that the answer could possibly be no is something I’d never thought I would think.

Dabo needs to let his coordinators call the offense and recruit from the transfer portal. It is affecting Clemson’s ability to win games and if Dabo doesn’t fix it he may be in for the long haul not only this season but for the next couple of years at Clemson.

Dabo created the rise for Clemson, hopefully, he doesn’t create the fall for the Tigers as well.

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