Despite recent struggles and the rise of hungry rivals, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney’s squad maintains its historical dominance as the conference's premier powerhouse ahead of Florida State and Miami.
No program has been more dominant in the ACC at football since the turn of the century than the Clemson Tigers.
The Tigers have won nine ACC titles since 2011, with three coming through the first half of this decade. While Clemson hasn't been a threat to win the national title since 2020, head coach Dabo Swinney has the program in contention to win its conference.
Before Swinney, the Tigers had not won the ACC since 1991. Clemson has gone through hot and cold streaks in conference play, winning six ACC championships between 1956 and 1967 and six titles between 1981 and 1991.
Eddie Timanus of USA Today ranked Clemson as the top overall ACC program coming into the season. He ranked the Tigers just above Florida State (No. 2) and Miami (No. 3).
"To paraphrase a mantra from another league, football just means more at Clemson among the ACC’s founders," Timanus wrote.
"The Tigers’ return to national prominence in the 2010s with two national titles under Dabo Swinney is just a small part of the program’s rich legacy that includes 24 conference titles and nearly 800 wins."
Clemson has dominated the conference this century, but Miami appears poised to turn the tables before the end of the decade. The Hurricanes have yet to win an ACC championship, but they made the College Football Playoff and went to the national championship game last year.
The Hurricanes are the favorites to win the ACC this season. Unlike Clemson, Miami took an aggressive approach in the transfer portal by adding quarterback Darian Mensah (who played at Duke) this offseason.
Last season, Clemson fell off the map, finishing with a 7-6 season despite having a roster that sent nine players to the NFL draft this pairing within the first five rounds.
The Tigers should be better this season, but they appear well behind Miami this season. The Hurricanes could eventually usurp Florida State and Clemson in the ACC, but head coach Mario Cristobal would have to have sustained success in the CFP for that to happen.
Still, Clemson has no room to feel complacent, as the ACC is getting more competitive.
