College football coach rankings: Has Dabo Swinney officially surpassed Nick Saban?

No. 1: Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Outside of Washington’s Chris Petersen, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney owns the highest active winning percentage among college football coaches. His career record – 11 seasons at Clemson – is a remarkable 116-30 (.795). That includes an undefeated 2018 and back-to-back 14-1 campaigns in 2015 and 2016.

It all seemed to happen overnight at Clemson, too. Without bringing in top five recruiting classes every season, Swinney and the Tigers have been on a tear since 2012. After getting molly-whopped by the West Virginia Mountaineers 70-33 in the 2012 Orange Bowl, Clemson’s posted an 87-13 record. Their postseason record in that span? 8-2, including one Cotton, one Chick-fil-A, one Fiesta and two Orange Bowl victories. Swinney coached the Tigers to wins in the 2017 and 2019 CFP National Championship, too, after losing to Alabama in the 2016 game.

Swinney seems primed for another playoff run in 2019 and beyond, especially with sophomore-to-be at quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. After his performance, last season, and in particular against Alabama, Swinney’s confidence in the young signal-caller couldn’t be higher. With a full offseason as the starter under his belt, Lawrence and Swinney could be in the midst of a dominating reign in college football.