Dabo Swinney will enter his 17th full season as Clemson Tigers head coach this fall.
Swinney’s accolades in that span have all the makings of a future College Football Hall of Fame coach whenever he retires. Swinney has guided the Tigers to two national championships, two more championship game appearances, and a total of nine ACC titles with the most recent coming last year in a thrilling 34-31 victory over SMU at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium.
Advertisement
Clemson enters 2025 with a lot of expectations. Quarterback Cade Klubnik returns for his senior season after throwing for 3,639 yards and 36 touchdowns a season ago to lead the Tigers to their first CFP appearance in four years.
Klubnik’s supporting cast has also gotten better. Five-star receivers Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore had promising freshmen seasons, and senior Antonio Williams enters 2025 as a top receiver to watch in next year’s NFL Draft. The Tigers also dipped into the transfer portal for senior receiver Tristan Smith, plus defensive lineman Will Heldt from Purdue and linebacker Jeremiah Alexander from Alabama.
Given what Swinney has already built at Clemson, and a roster that figures to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the country, it’s safe to say the Tigers’ coach isn’t feeling any pressure with regard to his job security.
On that note, CBS Sports’ nine-member panel of college football experts got together this week to unveil their Hot Seat rankings for coaches heading into the 2025 season. The panel used a 0-5 scale with 5 representing a coach who must “win or be fired,” while a 0-0.99 represents a coach who is “untouchable.”
Advertisement
Swinney is one such coach who ranks as “untouchable,” with a hot seat rating of 0.22. That number is tied with Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning and is only slightly behind Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart.
Swinney’s rating is also higher than Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian (0.44) and even last year’s national championship winning coach, Ryan Day of Ohio State (0.89).
It should go without saying that Swinney’s job is as safe as anyone in college football. That’s why it was particularly puzzling a year ago when recently retired CBS Sports columnist Dennis Dodd marked the Tigers’ coach as “all good… for now” in his 2024 hot seat rankings.
It made no sense because of Swinney’s aforementioned track record of success and program-building abilities, and the fact that Clemson was never going to stay a four-loss program in the regular season like it was in 2023. Dodd’s rankings revealed one thing, though: how fast things can change for coaches at the Power Four level.
Advertisement
Heading into 2024, Florida State coach Mike Norvell was considered “untouchable” after having just guided the Seminoles to a 12-0 regular season and an ACC championship. FSU was one step shy of reaching the final four-team College Football Playoff field in a bid that went to Alabama.
After following up a 13-1 season in 2023 with a 2-10 campaign in 2024, Norvell’s ranking went from “untouchable” this time last year to “Pressure is Mounting” entering 2025.
Few coaches in college football have done enough to warrant the type of job security Swinney enjoys. That job security should only increase in 2025, especially if Clemson’s talent coupled with Swinney’s coaching abilities carry the Tigers back to the College Football Playoff as ACC champions.
Clemson football schedule 2025
Clemson will open the 2025 season against the LSU Tigers at Memorial Stadium in prime time on Aug. 30. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC.
Advertisement
Here’s the rest of the 2025 Clemson schedule with announced start times. All times Eastern.
-
Aug. 30: vs. LSU (7:30 p.m., ABC)
-
Sept. 6: vs. Troy (3:30 p.m., ACC Network)
-
Oct. 11: at Boston College
-
Nov. 14: at Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN)
-
Nov. 29: at South Carolina (12 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN)
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney’s job security status, per CBS
