Dabo Swinney
Dabo Swinney went 191–55 as a head coach, 2008–2026, at Clemson. His teams claim two national titles: Clemson in 2016 and 2018. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–2); by them his record is 190–55. Share
- Record
- 191–55 career
- Seasons
- 19
- Schools
- 1
- National titles
- 2 claimed: 2016 and 2018
- Born
- Nov 20, 1969
- Alma mater
- Alabama 1993
- Best season
- 2016 14–1, No. 1
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Clemson interim, final 7 games | 4–3 | T–3rd | Gator Bowl L | ||
| 2009 | Clemson | 9–5 | 1st | Music City Bowl W | 24 | |
| 2010 | Clemson | 6–7 | T–4th | Meineke Car Care Bowl L | ||
| 2011 | Clemson | 10–4 | 1st | Orange Bowl L | 22 | |
| 2012 | Clemson | 11–2 | T–1st | Chick-fil-A Bowl W | 11 | |
| 2013 | Clemson | 11–2 | 2nd | Orange Bowl W | 8 | |
| 2014 | Clemson | 10–3 | 2nd | Russell Athletic Bowl W | 15 | |
| 2015 | Clemson | 14–1 | 1st | Orange Bowl W; CFP National Championship L | 2 | |
| 2016 | Clemson | 14–1 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl W; CFP National Championship W | 1 | |
| 2017 | Clemson | 12–2 | 1st | Sugar Bowl, CFP Semifinal L | 4 | |
| 2018 | Clemson | 15–0 | 1st | Cotton Bowl, CFP Semifinal W; CFP National Championship W | 1 | |
| 2019 | Clemson | 14–1 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl, CFP Semifinal W; CFP National Championship L | 2 | |
| 2020 | Clemson | 10–2 | 2nd | Sugar Bowl, CFP Semifinal L | 3 | |
| 2021 | Clemson | 10–3 | T–2nd | Cheez-It Bowl W | 14 | |
| 2022 | Clemson | 11–3 | 1st | Orange Bowl L | 13 | |
| 2023 | Clemson | 9–4 | T–6th | Gator Bowl W | 20 | |
| 2024 | Clemson | 10–4 | 2nd | CFP First Round L | 14 | |
| 2025 | Clemson | 7–6 | T–7th | Pinstripe Bowl L | ||
| 2026 | Clemson | 4–2 (Wikipedia: 3–2) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Deshaun Watson
Trevor Lawrence
Da’Quan Bowers
Clelin Ferrell
Dwayne Allen
Sammy Watkins
Vic Beasley
Christian Wilkins
C.J. Spiller
Shaq Lawson
Travis Etienne
Mitch Hyatt
Isaiah Simmons2019 Butkus Award- John SimpsonConsensus All‑American, 2019
- Mike WilliamsNo. 7 pick, 2017
- Dexter LawrenceNo. 17 pick, 2019
- A.J. TerrellNo. 16 pick, 2020
- Myles MurphyNo. 28 pick, 2023
7 more
Bryan Bresee (No. 29 pick, 2023); Peter Woods (No. 29 pick, 2026); DeAndre Hopkins (No. 27 pick, 2013); Blake Miller (No. 17 pick, 2026); Stephone Anthony (No. 31 pick, 2015); Nate Wiggins (No. 30 pick, 2024); Hunter Renfrow (2018 Burlsworth Trophy).
18 of the 25 players from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 72 | 41–31 | 57% |
| Against top-10 teams | 35 | 19–16 | 54% |
| Against rivals | 100 | 68–32 | 68% |
| Conference games | 145 | 116–29 | 80% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 22 | 12–10 | 55% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 72 | 46–26 | 64% |
| At home | 124 | 108–16 | 87% |
| On the road | 87 | 60–27 | 69% |
| At neutral sites | 35 | 23–12 | 66% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 207 | 174–33 | 84% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 39 | 17–22 | 44% |
His own 246 games on file, 2008–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Johnson 2008–2018 | 7–5 | Georgia Tech | 12 | |
| Dave Clawson 2014–2024 | 11–0 | Wake Forest | 11 | |
| Dave Doeren 2013–2024 | 9–2 | NC State | 11 | |
| Jimbo Fisher 2010–2019 | 6–4 | Florida State, Texas A&M | 10 | |
| Dino Babers 2016–2023 | 7–1 | Syracuse | 8 | |
| Steve Addazio 2013–2019 | 7–0 | Boston College | 7 | |
| Steve Spurrier 2008–2014 | 2–5 | South Carolina | 7 | |
| Jim Grobe 2009–2013 | 5–0 | Wake Forest | 5 | |
| Bobby Petrino 2014–2018 | 5–0 | Louisville | 5 | |
| Mike Norvell 2021–2025 | 4–1 | Florida State | 5 |
Dabo Swinney’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Techseries | 18 | 12–6 |
| Florida Stateseries | 17 | 11–6 |
| South Carolinaseries | 17 | 10–7 |
| Wake Forestseries | 16 | 16–0 |
| Boston Collegeseries | 16 | 15–1 |
| NC Stateseries | 15 | 12–3 |
| Syracuseseries | 12 | 10–2 |
| Louisvilleseries | 10 | 9–1 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2018 Clemson: Bear Bryant Award
- 2016 Clemson: Bear Bryant Award
- 2015 Clemson: Bear Bryant Award and Walter Camp Coach
- 2011 Clemson: Bobby Dodd Award
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Clemson’s 2016 staff (head coach) · the staff · source
- Won a national title on Clemson’s 2018 staff (head coach) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
How he was hired
- Hired by Clemson for the 2008 season from Clemson, where he was offensive coordinator. He had a prior connection to the school.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–95 | Alabama | Graduate assistant | |
| 1996 | Alabama | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1997 | Alabama | Tight ends coach | |
| 1998–2000 | Alabama | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2003–06 | Clemson | Wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2007–08 | Clemson | Assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| 2008 | Clemson | Interim head coach and offensive coordinator | |
| 2009–present | Clemson | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Gene StallingsAlabama
- Mike DuBoseAlabama
- Tommy BowdenClemson
Assistants who became head coaches
- Billy NapierLouisiana, Florida, James Madison
- Brad ScottSouth Carolina
- David BlackwellEast Carolina
- Jeff ScottSouth Florida
- Vic KoenningWyoming, Illinois
- Kevin SteeleBaylor, Auburn
- Chad MorrisSMU, Arkansas
- Robbie CaldwellVanderbilt
- Tony ElliottVirginia
- Brent VenablesOklahoma
- Terry BowdenAuburn, Akron, UL Monroe, Salem, Samford, North Alabama
- Kaleb NoblesWest Florida
- and 6 more
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene Stallings | Alabama | 1993–96 | 1993–95: graduate assistant; 1996: wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Mike DuBose | Alabama | 1997–2000 | 1997: tight ends coach; 1998–2000: wide receivers coach | |
| Tommy Bowden | Clemson | 2003–08 | 2003–06: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2007–08: assistant head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (18)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Napier | Clemson, 2008: tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator; 2009–10: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Louisiana, Florida, James Madison | |
| Brad Scott | Clemson, 2008: offensive line coach; 2008–11: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | South Carolina | |
| David Blackwell | Clemson, 2008: inside linebackers coach | East Carolina | |
| Jeff Scott | Clemson, 2008: wide receivers coach; 2008–14: wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator; 2015–19: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | South Florida | |
| Vic Koenning | Clemson, 2008: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Wyoming, Illinois | |
| Kevin Steele | Clemson, 2009–11: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Baylor, Auburn | |
| Chad Morris | Clemson, 2011–14: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2023: offensive analyst; 2026: offensive coordinator | SMU, Arkansas | |
| Robbie Caldwell | Clemson, 2011–21: offensive line coach | Vanderbilt | |
| Tony Elliott | Clemson, 2011–14: running backs coach; 2015–19: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2020: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2021: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Virginia | |
| Brent Venables | Clemson, 2012–17: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2018–21: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Oklahoma | |
| Terry Bowden | Clemson, 2019–20: graduate assistant | Auburn, Akron, UL Monroe, Salem, Samford, North Alabama | |
| Kaleb Nobles | Clemson, 2021–22: OPD | West Florida | |
| Ted Roof | Clemson, 2021: defensive assistant | Duke | |
| John Grass | Clemson, 2022–25: analyst | Jacksonville State, Samford | |
| Lorenzo Ward | Clemson, 2024–26: special assistant | Louisville | |
| Matt Luke | Clemson, 2024–26: co-offensive coordinator, assistant head coach and offensive line coach | Ole Miss | |
| Mike Houston | Clemson, 2025–26: volunteer defensive assistant | East Carolina, Lenoir Rhyne, The Citadel, James Madison | |
| Tom Allen | Clemson, 2025–26: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Indiana |
Other assistants under him (18)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Rumph | Clemson, 2008–10, 2024–26: defensive ends coach | |
| Rob Spence | Clemson, 2008: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Charlie Harbison | Clemson, 2009–12: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Wes Goodwin | Clemson, 2009–11: graduate assistant; 2012–14: defensive analyst; 2018–21: senior defensive assistant; 2022–24: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Woody McCorvey | Clemson, 2009–26: administrator | |
| Marion Hobby | Clemson, 2011–16: co-defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach | |
| Zac Alley | Clemson, 2011–14: student assistant; 2015–18: graduate assistant | |
| Joe Craddock | Clemson, 2012: player dev.; 2013–14: graduate assistant | |
| Brandon Streeter | Clemson, 2015–19: quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator; 2020–21: passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2022: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Miller | Clemson, 2015: student assistant; 2026: assistant coach | |
| Kyle Richardson | Clemson, 2016–22: senior offensive assistant; 2022–26: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Mickey Conn | Clemson, 2016: defensive assistant; 2017–20: safeties coach; 2021: special teams and safeties coach; 2022–25: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Todd Bates | Clemson, 2017: defensive line coach; 2018–19: defensive tackles coach; 2020–21: defensive tackles coach and recruiting coordinator | |
| Chandler Whitmer | Clemson, 2020: graduate assistant | |
| Kavell Conner | Clemson, 2021–22: defensive player development | |
| Nick Eason | Clemson, 2022–26: assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach | |
| Garrett Riley | Clemson, 2023–25: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Brad Glenn | Clemson, 2026: ATE and PD |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $1,000,000; $1,525,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $40,000,000 | $8,526,800 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $1,725,000; $1,100,000 in bonuses paid | $4,422,700 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $1,125,000; $50,000 in bonuses paid | $3,305,200 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $1,200,000 | $3,175,100 USA Today | |
| 2013 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $775,000 | $2,550,024 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2012 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $775,000 | $2,050,024 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2011 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $775,000 | $1,846,333 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2010 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $694,792 | $1,768,500 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2009 | Clemson | head coachbonuses up to $875,000 | $816,850 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Swinney’s teams went for it on 18% of fourth downs and on 32% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 50% of plays and took 23.9 seconds a play, 2009–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 14 g | 16 of 105 15% | 29% | 46% | 26.1 | −0.08 | |
| 2010 13 g | 16 of 103 16% | 27% | 49% | 24.4 | −0.09 | |
| 2011 14 g | 20 of 112 18% | 31% | 53% | 21.5 | −0.01 | |
| 2012 13 g | 18 of 96 19% | 29% | 47% | 20.3 | +0.10 | |
| 2013 13 g | 25 of 101 25% | 39% | 49% | 20.3 | +0.14 | |
| 2014 13 g | 15 of 121 12% | 24% | 49% | 24.4 | −0.07 | |
| 2015 15 g | 14 of 113 12% | 25% | 45% | 23.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2016 15 g | 26 of 108 24% | 43% | 53% | 22.4 | +0.10 | |
| 2017 14 g | 17 of 106 16% | 23% | 48% | 24.2 | +0.04 | |
| 2018 15 g | 20 of 102 20% | 31% | 49% | 23.6 | +0.19 | |
| 2019 15 g | 12 of 95 13% | 17% | 49% | 24.8 | +0.20 | |
| 2020 12 g | 15 of 86 17% | 32% | 57% | 23.9 | +0.15 | |
| 2021 13 g | 16 of 107 15% | 38% | 48% | 24.8 | −0.05 | |
| 2022 14 g | 13 of 103 13% | 23% | 49% | 25.0 | +0.06 | |
| 2023 13 g | 26 of 110 24% | 50% | 51% | 25.6 | −0.02 | |
| 2024 14 g | 22 of 107 21% | 35% | 56% | 24.8 | +0.11 | |
| 2025 13 g | 36 of 110 33% | 53% | 56% | 26.7 | +0.04 | |
| 2026 6 g | 10 of 55 18% | 27% | 51% | 24.1 | −0.11 | |
| All 239 g | 337 of 1840 18% | 32% | 50% | 23.9 | +0.05 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.