ACC Coaching Tiers

By Kyle Golik

The Basement

Troy Taylor, Tony Elliott

It seems like an eternity ago when Tony Elliott was a key part of the Clemson coaching troika with Dabo Swinney and Brent Venables as Clemson warred with Alabama as the nation’s premier program. Now Elliott looks like a failed experiment in Charlottesville.

Taylor is to Stanford like Clark Lea is to Vanderbilt, they are handcuffed in this environment. It was a giant reach to begin with to have Taylor replace David Shaw. Taylor has to milk whatever is left from the 2OT thriller against Colorado to try to build the Cardinal back to respectability.

The Unknown Commodity

Fran Brown

Syracuse is hoping that Brown is their Dan Lanning as more Kirby Smart assistants are being pulled across the country. Like Lanning, Brown was a successful defensive backs coach, who was 247Sports No. 1 overall recruiter in 2023. Brown is hoping the change of scenery for former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord will pay dividends early in his program.

The Grinders

Manny Diaz, Bill O’Brien, Dave Clawson, Brent Key, Justin Wilcox

Manny Diaz had really only one bad game in his two season rehabilitation as defensive coordinator at Penn State. Diaz in a lot of ways was given a raw deal by Miami, having to replace Mark Richt, who seemed to have rejuvenated Miami, was something Diaz couldn’t live up to. Diaz has to rebuild Duke, unlike in Miami, Diaz will be afforded patience.

Another Penn State coaching alum, who will be afforded patience, who also recognizes his program as a developmental one is Bill O’Brien. At this point in O’Brien’s career, he is where he wants to be, and the expectations are to be competitive. O’Brien’s Eagles will be gritty and the character of this program will always keep them in the thick of things.

Key is another grinder. Being in the shadows of Kirby Smart’s Georgia empire, Key knows it is a straight uphill journey. The early results are some of the Yellow Jackets most hopeful since the Paul Johnson era.

In my mind, how I see Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz’s career arc to go is what Dave Clawson’s is - always in the middle of the pack but have that season or two along the way that flirts with the nation’s elite. Clawson is always going to make things interesting with his slow mesh offensively. I feel Wake Forest will still be lean again this year, but it will be Clawson’s ingenuity that will keep the Demon Deacons interesting.

Wilcox always had California in the middle of the pack in the Pac-12. I really don’t see things changing much in the ACC. It is the proverbial argument, could Cal do better? Sure. But they got in Wilcox some semblance of stability and in these turbulent times, they can’t afford to lose.

The Maybes

Rhett Lashlee, Brent Pry, Jeff Brohm

Pry and Lashlee epitomize what I call “The Maybes.” To me, both coaches still have a lot to prove on the bigger stage. While Pry had one of the more competitive Virginia Tech teams last season, Tech has one of the more experienced rosters coming back and avoids Florida State. The out of conference game against Rutgers is a great litmus test, because at win a home should have the Hokies undefeated going into Miami.

Lashlee is one of the game’s brightest offensive minds, had the Mustangs with the No. 8 scoring offense. Defensively, SMU finished behind Penn State in sacks in the country. While there is a lot to like what Lashlee has done with SMU, the thing is when SMU played Power 5 competition they didn’t exactly look great. The loss to TCU showed how far away they still are, losing to Boston College in the Fenway Bowl only justified the New Year’s Six snub.

Brohm looks destined for “The Penthouse.” The job he did at Purdue that included guiding the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Championship Game and then in Year 1 at his alma mater a surprise ACC Championship Game berth. I have no doubt Brohm will have Louisville threatening for a College Football Playoff spot, it will only be a matter of when.

The Pretenders

Mario Cristobal, Dave Doeren, Pat Narduzzi

Is Narduzzi and Doeren “Grinders?” You can make the case for them. But each have had their teams flirting with potential ACC supremacy before ultimately failing.

Doeren never had the Wolfpack in the same position as Narduzzi, but often flirted with it. I feel the ceiling for NC State will be nine wins, that elusive 10th win season, something not achieved since 2002 will always be there.

Narduzzi might be the sport’s most bitter coaches, whether it was the unnecessary shade tossed at former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple following the 2021 ACC Championship season, or how Jordan Addison was poached from Pitt, and even his bickering with one Deion Sanders.

Pitt has had their greatest success since the Jackie Sherrill days of the 1980’s and it seemed Narduzzi had Pitt in that echelon where it seemed to be ready to be a legit Tier 2 team in the ACC with the occasional Tier 1 flirt.

Watching Pitt last season was a stark reminder of how much Narduzzi is a pretender. He might be a great shit talker and can ruffle feathers, but what Narduzzi dishes with his mouth versus the results on the field rarely match up.

For whatever the reason, Mike Farrell believes Mario Cristobal will be one of the best breakthrough candidates next season. Farrell says, “Cristobal has a tough time getting out of his own way as a coach sometimes. But this is simple — you recruit elite talent you will win games. If Miami isn’t a playoff team in the next few seasons, I’ll be surprised.”

Well Farrell better be ready to get surprised, and hopefully Cristobal can send him a “friendly telegram” to aid in his surprise.

I wrote last summer , and I am still steadfast in this believe, Cristobal is a better recruiter than coach and that will be the reason Miami never realizes its fullest potential.

Yes, Cristobal will have that 10-2 season that will have Miami fans wanting to burn me in effigy, but this is the same coach that will regress at awkward times. What doesn’t help Cristobal is Miami’s uncertain status in a power conference.

Penthouse Days Are Over

Dabo Swinney, Mack Brown

Let me preface this, every single coach or at least 99.9% of them in the country today would trade their careers for what Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown accomplished. They are hall of fame coaches, they were central figures in the 2000’s (Brown) and 2010’s (Swinney).

Today, it is a different ball game.

Brown couldn’t capitalize on the Drake Maye experience, but North Carolina has an extremely favorable schedule - no Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville. If Brown has answers for an inept defense that was near the bottom of scoring defense the last two seasons, it should be a 10-win season in Chapel Hill.

Dabo Swinney is on a referendum that I will be shocked if he is successful with.

Swinney seems to be against NIL - Swinney said if players get paid like pro's he might as well coach professionals, the transfer portal, and everything college football is now. In my mind, Swinney is in his own way and that will be the reason Clemson won’t be back to where it was in the late 2010’s where it was seemingly facing Alabama every year for the national championship.

If Clemson can upset Georgia in Week 1, that is the jolt Swinney needs to return to “The Penthouse.”

The Penthouse

Mike Norvell

Whether you feel Florida State’s omission from the College Football Playoff or “invitational” was justified by the egg laid in the Orange Bowl or not, an undefeated team from a power conference should be a lock for the Playoff, it will now, but it is mind numbing and forever will be.

How Norvell handled it was the best he could, players have more control than ever before, in this era, there was no incentive for those players to play in the game. This is why the expanded Playoff should benefit situations like Florida State.

What Norvell has accomplished since the start of the 2023 seasons speaks volumes, going 23-4 with an undefeated ACC Championship shows Florida State is back to where it was before Jimbo Fisher left off the gas. Norvell shows no signs of slowing down, how aggressive he is in recruiting and the portal will keep him a resident at the top of the ACC Penthouse for the foreseeable future.