Dabo Swinney has made Clemson Tigers history.
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The longtime Tigers head coach became the all-time winningest coach in program history following Saturday's win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Despite a disappointing season for Clemson, Swinney was able to break the record against a strong Notre Dame team.
With his 166th win, Dabo Swinney has officially passed Frank Howard to become the winningest coach in Clemson history.
Congratulations, Coach Swinney! pic.twitter.com/dSvW1P8XwI
— Austin Pendergist (@apthirteen) November 4, 2023
Swinney has been the head football coach at Clemson University since 2009. He also served as the interim head coach during the 2008 season when Tommy Bowden resigned mid-season. It has been a dramatic week for Swinney as he made headlines for getting upset with a fan named "Tyler from Spartanburg" during his weekly radio show. It has been a disappointing season for Clemson, with a record of 4-4 going into the game this weekend against Notre Dame.
Clemson has been a home underdog only a few times, with one notable instance earlier this year against Florida State. Before that, the team had not been an underdog at home since 2016 when they played against Lamar Jackson and Louisville. Clemson entered this game as underdogs with a record of .500, which is unusual for Clemson under Swinney.
Clemson led for all but eight minutes of the game. The biggest lead Clemson had was 24-6 midway through the second quarter, and ended up winning 31-23. Clemson was also without their best offensive player, running back Will Shipley, who suffered a concussion the week prior vs NC State. Second-string running back Phil Mafah ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns in his absence. The Clemson defense forced three turnovers and held Notre Dame to three out of thirteen on third-down conversions.
Swinney has now achieved 166 career wins at Clemson, surpassing the record of legendary head coach Frank Howard, who coached from 1940 to 1969. The Clemson head coach has accomplished it in approximately half the time it took Howard, achieving this in 14.5 seasons compared to Howard's 30 seasons. Swinney is already regarded as the greatest coach in Clemson's history, and now he holds the record for the most wins.
Before this season, he had a streak of 12 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins. He has a winning percentage of 79.4 percent and has won two national championships, one in 2016 and another in 2018. He has also been to the national championship game four times, the most recent being in the 2019-2020 season where they lost to LSU with a score of 42-25. Clemson is now 5-4 on the season and play Georgia Tech at home next Saturday.
