College football: 5 head coaches who could be the next Nick Saban

2. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Before you laugh, it wasn't long ago that Dabo Swinney was mentioned as a true threat to unseat Nick Saban as the top head coach in college football. He is a two-time national champion already and just had a 12-season streak of 10-plus wins snapped last year, so he's clearly a winner.

Swinney's last few seasons have been underwhelming, but that term to him is different than what most coaches experience. Underwhelming seasons for Swinney are 10-11 wins and no College Football Playoff appearance. Sound familiar? Exactly what Saban would have considered underwhelming which is why he's the greatest coach of all time.

While Swinney still has to show that he can still win the big games after a few "off" years, he has proven that he's capable of doing so.

The 54-year-old head coach has two national titles, 10 division titles, and eight ACC championships in his career to go along with 12 seasons of 10-plus wins in 16 years. He recruits at an elite level and has an overall record of 170-43. He can absolutely become the best head coach in the sport if he gets back to that dominant level that he was at between 2015-2019.