{"id":89064,"date":"2026-07-12T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=89064"},"modified":"2026-07-11T22:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T02:59:06","slug":"top-five-acc-coaches-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/07\/12\/top-five-acc-coaches-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Rank the Top Five ACC Coaches in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
Who are the top five ACC Coaches returning in 2026? Let’s be honest, this list was tough. A lot like our <\/span>Big 12<\/a><\/span> list, the ACC has many good teams but very few great ones. Unlike the Big 12, the ACC is not experiencing the same coach turnover in 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
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James Franklin is the only new face in 2026. Franklin made our list last year when we ranked the top <\/span>B1G coaches<\/a><\/span>, but he found himself out of a job after losses to UCLA and Northwestern. Happy Valley’s “loss” is Blacksburg’s gain. Franlink will try to awaken the Sandman and bring back Virginia Tech’s winning ways.<\/span><\/div>\n
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When ranking the Top 5 coaches, one was stumped by the parody that permeates the ACC in football. 2025 saw the craziest situation with a historic five-way tie for second place. The tie created a logistical nightmare that allowed an 8-5 Duke team to slip into the ACC Championship game and win the title, and almost cost the conference a spot in the College Football Playoff.<\/span><\/div>\n
What we have are five coaches. Sure, there could be one or two, but let’s remember Marcus Freeman is an “independent” and Dave Doren isn’t doing better than 8-5. Fran Brown can take notes; he is a dark horse and could be on several big boards if he helps the Orange rebound in 2026. So without further ado, here is our list of the top five ACC coaches in 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n

Let’s Rank the Top Five ACC Coaches in 2026<\/span><\/h2>\n

#5 Brent Key, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets<\/span><\/h3>\n
If you Google a football coach, there is a strong chance you will see a picture of Brent Key<\/a>. Key has done a good job of revitalizing the North Avenue Technical College since taking over for the dumpster fire that was Geoff Collins’ tenure. You may be surprised to know that Key is just 27-20 in his little over three years as head of Georgia Tech. Key’s nine wins last season actually seemed a bit underwhelming with a second look. Tech isn’t easy, but Key, an alum, has found the recipe for success. Time will tell whether he can win the ACC Championship or earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.<\/span><\/div>\n

#4 Tony Elliott, Virginia Cavaliers<\/span><\/h3>\n
Who is the real Tony Elliott? Is the coach with three losing seasons in Charlottesville or the coach who struck gold and played for an ACC Championship in 2025? We are really asking because we don’t know. Can Elliott and the Cavaliers build off a historic season and find their way back to an ACC Championship? Or will they regress to the mean, and we will wonder whether or not Elliott is better as a coordinator than as a head ball coach? <\/span>Beau Pribula’s health<\/a><\/span> will go a long way toward answering that question.<\/span><\/div>\n

#3 Dabo Swinney, Clemson Tigers<\/span><\/h3>\n
Dabo Swinney<\/a> has been named one of the top ACC coaches year in and year out. Where is Clemson going, though, as a program? Clemson produced nine NFL draft picks last year, but only managed seven wins (a 7-6 record) in 2025. Maybe it was a fluke, or maybe it was a sign that Dabor is now being punished for his failure to adapt to the new world of NIL and the transfer portal. Call us, Travis from Spartanburg. We can take it. But Dabo seems to be sliding further away every day from where Clemson was and where they are headed in 2026 and beyond.<\/span><\/div>\n

#2 Rhett Lashlee, SMU Mustangs<\/span><\/h3>\n
What Dabo lacks in the use of the Portal and NIL, Rhett Lashlee makes up for in Dallas. Let’s face it, SMU has some of the best alternatives in CFB. Their all-white alternates, with the script “Dallas” logo across the chest, are legit. If you are watching the drip, you know you have to give SMU strong consideration. Rhett Lashlee knows it’s more about the drip, but has done an excellent job of building his roster through NIL and the Transfer Portal to springboard the Tigers to the top of mind come 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
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#1 Mario Cristobal, Miami Hurricanes<\/span><\/h3>\n
If anyone has figured out how to build a roster in 2026, it is Mario Cristobal. You can almost pencil in that the #1 quarterback in the class will find his way to Coral Gables. Sure, does that mean the traditional way is harder and may require more work? Yep, absolutely. Coach Instacart has done an excellent job of supplementing his strong high school recruiting by using the portal to pick out the brightest and best quarterbacks and more to restore “The U.” Sure, we can poke him about not winning a conference or national championship. Still, he came damn close in 2025 and should be right there in the conversation in 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who are the top five ACC Coaches returning in 2026? Let’s be honest, this list was tough. A lot like our Big 12 list, the ACC has many good teams but very few great ones. Unlike the Big 12, the ACC is not experiencing the same coach turnover in 2026. James Franklin is the only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":60018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,35645,2,35633,35634,35640,35642],"tags":[6850,4378,648,4084],"class_list":["post-89064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acc","category-clemson-tigers","category-featured","category-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets","category-miami-hurricanes","category-smu-mustangs","category-virginia-cavaliers","tag-marcus-freeman","tag-mario-cristobal","tag-rhett-lashlee","tag-tony-elliott"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89064"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89079,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89064\/revisions\/89079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}