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Dabo Swinney Becomes ACC's Winningest Coach With Clemson Win Over Florida State

The Clemson boss passes Seminoles icon Bobby Bowden.

Patrick Andres

Dabo Swinney, the ACC's winningest coach.
Dabo Swinney, the ACC's winningest coach. / Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images
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After 17 years leading Clemson, coach Dabo Swinney stands alone as the winningest coach in the history of the ACC.

The Tigers boss won his conference-best 174th game Saturday evening when No. 15 Clemson defeated Florida State 29–13. With the victory, he ironically passed longtime Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden on the ACC's all-time list.

Swinney, 54, has led the Tigers to two national championships and eight conference championships since taking over for ex-coach Tommy Bowden—Bobby's son—in 2008.

College Football Reference's leaderboard recognizes Swinney as the 40th-winningest coach in the history of major college football. Only Mack Brown of North Carolina, Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, and Brian Kelly of LSU have more wins among active coaches.

Coaches within striking distance on the all-time leaderboard for Swinney this season include Gary Patterson, Darrell Royal and Johnny Majors.

Clemson—still very much alive for national and conference accolades—is scheduled to play at Wake Forest next Saturday.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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