2025 is a big year for the ACC and ACC coaches. 2024 was rough. They were caught up in legal battles with some of their biggest names. Clemson, Florida State, Miami, UNC, and Virginia are staying for now. On the field, it wasn’t much better. Sure, they’ve got two teams (barely) in the College Football Playoff in 2024. However, let’s face it, neither was particularly competitive in the games. SMU looked overwhelmed and overmatched in Happy Valley. Maybe it was a good thing the boosters’ private plane was late. Clemson didn’t fare any better on the 40 acres against the Longhorns. 2025 will now be pivotal.
The Big Ten and SEC are distancing themselves from the rest of college football. Their pocketbooks are deepening, they are getting their pick in conference realignment, and they are taking most of the College Football Playoff spots, and looking for more. It will be up to the ACC coaches to help their teams and the league try to navigate away from obscurity. We have some good options in the ACC, but good will only get you so far. They could also use a little help from their two Florida schools.
U Need More Doak
You will not find Mario Cristobal or Mike Norvell on the list for top returning ACC coaches in 2025. Both have shown flashes of good, but nothing great. Cristobal is a helluva high school and transfer portal recruiter. “Coach Instacart,” as some have dubbed him, is great at assembling the groceries for a great meal. The problem is that it always seems to come out burned. A knee not taken and a bad or unexplainable loss or losses seem always to find Cristobal and the Hurricanes. “The U” should be an ACC challenger and College Football Playoff challenger. But until the job is finished, Cristobal finds himself on the outside looking in on the 2025 list.
The same applies to his counterpart in Tallahassee. Florida State was undefeated in 2023. They got “state championship” rings and everything to celebrate. Whether it was the pressure to repeat or the inability to get over being left out of the College Football Playoff, the 2024 season was a disaster. The Seminoles whiffed on taking DJ Uiagalelei out of the transfer portal and went 2-10 on the season. Norvell was brought in with plenty of hype when he was brought in. He has failed to live up to the press clippings. The underwhelming record and large buyout have kept him out of our list and the unemployment line.
Top Returning ACC Coaches for 2025
Now that we know who isn’t here, let’s get on with our list of the top returning ACC coaches for 2025.
#5 Jeff Brohm Louisville Cardinals
Jeff Brohm is 19-8 in his first two seasons in Louisville. That includes playing for an ACC title in year one and a win over Kentucky, which has been a thorn in the Cardinals’ side in recent years, in year two. Year three will see Miller Moss take over as the starting quarterback. Moss comes in from USC and has a strong arm that Brohm should have plenty of fun drawing up plays for. Moss and Brohm will have plenty of weapons on the ground and in the air. Isaac Brown and Duke Watson ran for a combined 1,770 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns as freshmen last year. The ACC is wide open after Clemson, and if the Cardinals get hot, they could find themselves in a second ACC Championship game in three years under Brohm.
#4 Brent Key Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Brent Key fits at Georgia Tech. Hiring Key as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach was one of the best decisions Geoff Collins made during his tenure on North Avenue. Key took over after Collins was fired a couple of years ago and instantly brought an edge and toughness to the Jackets. Key has a dynamic offense under Buster Faulkner that has mastered the RPO and a returning quarterback in Haynes King. King is one of the toughest players in college football. King could have hit the portal after resurrecting his career at Tech, but instead, he stayed. In an interview with Yellow Jacked Up, King said he wanted to see the program he helped build succeed and potentially compete for a championship. It is that toughness and selfless attitude that will take the Jackets far in 2025.
#3 Fran Brown Syracuse Orange
There is probably not a cooler coach in the ACC than Fran Brown. Sorry, Dabo. Brown is entering just his second season in upstate New York, but has gone a long way to making the Orange relevant again in the Fall. Brown was 10-3 in his first year and has done an excellent job of using the transfer portal to bolster his roster. Last year, he brought in Kyle McCord from Ohio State. McCord’s request for another year by the NCAA was denied (LAME). Brown did not flinch and brought in Steve Angeli from Notre Dame. Angeli has shown himself to be a capable game manager when put in the game and will help Brown try to continue to make a statement in year two in The Dome (we still refuse to call it the JMS Wireless Center).
#2 Rhett Lashlee SMU Mustangs
Rhett Lashlee has taken Sonny Dyke’s blueprint for building SMU’s college football team in Dallas and taken it to the next level. Lashlee continues to recruit at a high level and leverage the transfer portal to bring the Dallas kids back home to the ponies. The Mustangs were undefeated in their first year in the ACC, making it to the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff. SMU will look to return to the ACC Championship game with Kevin Jennings returning at quarterback. Jennings will play a big role in Lashlee’s first system.
#1 Dabo Swinney Clemson Tigers
Poor ole Dabo from “little ole Clemson” tops our list. Swinney continues to go against the grain. He is not always the flashiest coach in football. He is just warming up to the idea of taking a transfer, but there is one thing none of us can question. Swinney knows how to build a football roster and a team culture. There have been some lows for the Tigers under Swinney, but many highs as well. 2025 should be a key year for the Tigers. He has a stud in defensive coordinator Tom Allen to give his experienced and talented defense the schemes to give the ACC fits. He also has third-year quarterback Cade Klubnik back. This will be one of Swinney’s deepest teams in recent memory. The Tigers will be the ACC’s best shot and taking down and overcoming their foes from the Big Ten and SEC.
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