Who will be coaching Clemson five seasons from now?
This national outlet doesn’t think it will be Dabo Swinney.
The Athletic predicted the head coach for each Power 4 program in 2030.
For Clemson, the Tigers’ projected coach in 2030 is … current SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee.
“This is a complicated time to assess both Swinney and Clemson, with the program coming off its worst season in almost two decades,” The Athletic’s Ralph D. Russo wrote. “Lashlee seems like a perfect fit, but there is a very real question about whether Clemson would be a clear upgrade from SMU for him.”
Lashlee is heading into his fifth season in charge of the SMU program in 2026. He has a career head coaching record of 38-16, the most wins for a head coach in his first four years in program history. His 31 wins from 2023-25 are tied for the most over three years in program history.
In 2024, Lashlee led SMU to an ACC Championship Game appearance against Clemson and a College Football Playoff berth against Penn State. In 2025, Lashlee’s Mustangs went 9-4, highlighted by the program recording its first top-10 victory since 1983 with an overtime win at home against No.10 Miami, the national runner-up. SMU also went undefeated at home in conference games for a third straight year, and earned its first bowl victory since 2012 with a win over No. 17 Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.
Meanwhile, Swinney is entering his 19th season (and 18th full season) as Clemson’s head coach in 2026.
Swinney has a career head coaching record of 187-53. He is Clemson’s all-time winningest coach, the winningest coach in ACC history and the first coach to lead the Tigers to multiple national championships. The Tigers have won nine ACC titles under Swinney, including eight in the last 11 seasons, while he has guided Clemson to seven College Football Playoff appearances.
Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart are the only active coaches with multiple national titles. In 13 of the last 15 years, Swinney’s Clemson program has won 10-plus games.
However, Swinney’s Tigers head into the upcoming campaign hoping to bounce back from a 7-6 record in 2025, the second-worst season in Swinney’s tenure at Clemson.
CBS Sports recently ranked the 10 college football coaches “under the most pressure” in 2026, including Swinney.
CBS Sports also recently published an article on the college football coaching carousel, and Swinney was listed among 25 coaches “to keep an eye on when the carousel starts spinning in 2026” and who “could be on the move after the 2026 season.”
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney after the Tigers’ 35-24 loss to SMU on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. (Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider)