At least one national publication believes Dabo Swinney is no longer the best coach in the ACC.
Despite having never won an ACC Championship, USA Today has named Miami’s Mario Cristobal as the league’s top head coach. The Hurricanes did not appear in the conference championship game last season, but did make a run to the national title game, where they fell to Indiana 27-21. Miami is the betting favorite to win the league in 2026.
Cristobal put together one of the most impressive coaching seasons in recent memory in 2025, leading Miami through a College Football Playoff gauntlet to the national championship game. The Hurricanes’ defense dominated down the stretch, although they narrowly earned a CFP bid over Notre Dame, which it beat in Week 1 of the season. They upset Ohio State and took down Texas A&M and Ole Miss before playing Indiana closer than anyone in the postseason. Cristobal went 12-13 his first two seasons at Miami, but has a 23-6 record the past two seasons and has created a strong, defensive-minded culture similar to the Hurricanes of old.
Swinney, who has nine ACC Championships under his belt along with two national titles, comes in at No. 2.
One of the most historically successful active head coaches in college football, Swinney has two national titles and nine conference championships at Clemson, but has fallen off in recent years. The Tigers had a disappointing 7-6 finish last season despite having loads of NFL talent and being a trendy preseason national championship pick. Swinney and Clemson are 26-14 the last three seasons, which is a step down from their dominance of the 2010s. The 18th-year head coach is still one of the best coaches in the conference, but he has to prove he’s still got it.
James Franklin, who enters his first season as the head coach at Virginia Tech after a long tenure at Penn State, is slotted at No. 3.
James Franklin took a quick downturn at Penn State after leading the historic program to consistent success at an important time in its history. Franklin took the Nittany Lions to the CFP semifinals in 2024-25, but was fired midseason last October after dropping consecutive games to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern. Penn State had huge expectations last season, although Franklin was a huge reason for how the team earned those expectations due to his success through 12 seasons. He finished his tenure with five top-10 ranked finishes, four New Year’s Six bowl wins and a CFP semifinals appearance. He’s looking to prove last year was just an aberration, although with a new school at Virginia Tech.
Here’s how the rest of the rankings shake out.
- 4. Rhett Lashlee (SMU)
- 5. Jeff Brohm (Louisville)
- 6. Brent Key (Georgia Tech)
- 7. Manny Diaz (Duke)
- 8. Jake Dickert (Wake Forest)
- 9. Pat Narduzzi (Pitt)
- 10. Tony Elliott (Virginia)
- 11. Dave Doeren (NC State)
- 12. Fran Brown (Syracuse)
- 13. Mike Norvell (Florida State)
- 14. Tosh Lupoi (Cal)
- 15. Tavita Pritchard (Stanford)
- 16. Bill O’Brien (Boston College)
- 17. Bill Belichick (North Carolina)
