Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney boasts 86 NFL draftees, cementing his legacy as a coaching great. Discover how his player development consistently produces top professional talent.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has had a lot of great talent during his time with the program.
Swinney dominated the pre-NIL era for recruiting, powering the Tigers to national championships in 2016 and 2018.
Clemson hasn't been the same since NIL and the transfer portal came to dominate the sport. Still, the Tigers are set to send several players to the 2026 NFL Draft. Peter Woods, T.J. Parker, Blake Miller, and Avieon Terrell could go in the first round.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports ranked current college football head coaches with the most players selected in the draft. Swinney ranks at No. 2 with 86 players taken, trailing only Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz with 94 picks.
"Swinney has done it his way at Clemson, en route to a pair of national championships and the utmost respect on draft day," Crawford wrote.
"Not only has Swinney dominated in-state recruiting while expanding the Tigers' geographical footprint to a national scale during his tenure, but staff continuity has also played an integral role in player development and overall success.
"Swinney's 18 first-round picks with the Tigers include quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson, and seven defensive linemen."
During a recent appearance on the Jim Rome Show, Swinney said he anticipates nine Tigers being drafted this year.
“I think we’re gonna get nine players drafted, I really do,” Swinney said, via The Clemson Insider. “I am disappointed that I was not better for those guys because that team was certainly better than its record.”
He thinks Parker and Woods will go in the first round.
“[Parker] and Peter Woods are two big-time D-linemen coming out that I think both should be first-rounders,” Swinney said. “T.J. is a rare combination of size and speed. He’s really powerful. He’s heavy-handed. He is a very smart football player.
"He and Peter Woods are three-year players at Clemson, true juniors, but they’re also graduates. So, that just shows you how they’ve been able to manage all that comes with being great players, but also great students, handling their business on and off the field.”
Swinney's history of sending recruits to the NFL should help him with future efforts to grab elite players.
Of course, the Tigers will need to win more games on the field than they did in 2025 to impress recruits.