The hype train is in full swing and will push into the summer now that the transfers have settled in and the new coaches worked spring ball.
The ACC hasn’t had a ton of hype behind it since Trevor Lawrence headed to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Even with a Heisman Trophy candidate in Cam Ward, the league faced being third fiddle to the SEC and Big Ten while battling with the Big 12 for middle brother status.
It’s my mission to get the ACC hype machine going, even if on a small stage. It’s amazing the league produced the first overall NFL draft pick in QB Cam Ward and yet might fold in a handful of seasons. That’s fair in a sense after the Pac-12 had one of it’s best seasons and then folded immediately after.
Whether it’s head coaches, strength coaches, quarterbacks or culture- the ACC deserves a little hype alongside the Power 2 and Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders.
The Top Guy
Until someone dethrones him, the Clemson Tigers Dabo Swinney is the ACC’s top guy at head coach. The Birmingham, AL native has two National Championship rings, nine ACC Championship rings, and has no intention of slowing down at 55 years of age.
Swinney has won just about every head coaching award imaginable and now with Tom Allen as his DC I can’t see Clemson slowing down this season. Swinney’s Tigers could be due their 10th ACC Championship and another trip to the CFB Playoff.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Biggest Flair (aka biggest weirdo)
Syracuse’s Fran Brown has to be the biggest weirdo in the ACC. For how bleh Mario Cristobal’s meathead schtick is, Brown is coming in as the conference’s WWE representative. Skipping showers after losses, attempting to throw together an impromptu spring game with Deion Sanders, his interview style. Brown takes the cake on being a weirdo in college football.
Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images
He’s a Recruiting Service Promo Code
The Miami Hurricanes Mario Cristobal is a recruiting service machine. When it comes to recruiting rankings, the ‘Canes have been at the top of both high school and transfer portal recruiting in the ACC.
Whether it’s been Cam Ward and Carson Beck, Damien Martinez, an entirely new defensive backfield or a starting center- Cristobal has been on a “Finish Him” path through the portal.
Then you add in high school recruiting and five-star linemen on both sides of the ball such as Francis Mauigoa and Justin Scott. Fans knew that when Cristobal was hired his recruiting service rankings would be top-10 worthy in most seasons.
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Costco Chicken Salad
After the chicken salad sandwich at Queeny’s in Durham, NC, Costco has the best CS money can buy. Rhett Lashlee is what I called a chicken salad coach. He’s been turning chicken poop into chicken salad in Dallas. Under the Arkansas native, the SMU Mustangs are 29-12 overall and 21-3 in conference including an 8-0 run in the regular season in year one of ACC play.
On offense it’s been a solid mix of underrated high school recruits (Roderick Daniels Jr.) and P4 transfers (Brashard Smith, Keyshawn Smith, and Matthew Hibner). On defense it’s been transfer heavy as well with his three leading TFL and sack guys coming from his old job at Miami (Jared Harrison-Hunte, Elijah Roberts, and Jahfari Harvey).
On the backend of the defense three of his top five DB’s in 2024 were transfers as well from Stanford, Texas A&M and Colorado State. SMU guys in Isaiah Nwokobia and Ahmaad Moses were just three-star recruits per 247.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
The “Let ‘Em Play Ball” Guy
Miami OC Shannon Dawson just let Cam Ward play ball and it worked out wonderfully for the top-rated offense per SP+. Miami also led FBS in points per game, and Dawson might have just coached Ward into a first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The ‘Canes scored 43.9 PPG in ‘24, with Ward scoring 44 times (four rushing, one receiving). Ward only threw seven interceptions while averaging 9.5 yards per pass attempt while completing 67.2% of his passes.
Dawson didn’t shy away from throwing the rock even after Ward made early mistakes in games against Cal and Virginia Tech. His “let ‘em play ball” approach kept Ward confident and allowed the offense back into games.
Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Summer Schemin’ All-Stars
Heading into the 2024 season I wanted to see all that I could from Jeff Brohm and the Louisville offense. In ‘24, they took another transfer and dare I say has been QB, and turned him into a serviceable passer. Two years ago it was three-time transfer Jack Plummer. Last season it was also a three-time transfer in Tyler Shough. Both could wind up on NFL rosters in 2025.
Heading into ‘25 I’m curious to see what Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets OC Buster Faulkner was doing with QB Haynes King and RB Jamal Haynes. Faulkner passed on some bigger offers to stay with Brent Key in Atlanta. I’d like to see Haynes stay healthy throughout the season and King’s ability to pass the ball improve in ‘25. I know his shoulder was injured in the middle of the season but he needs to improve as a passer for GT to continue to be a threat in the ACC.
My defensive schemer would’ve also come from GT, except Tyler Santucci is now a Baltimore Raven. Instead it’ll be UNC’s Steve Belichick. The Washington Huskies allowed 23.8 PPG (54th in FBS) under S. Belchick in ‘24, however it was adjusted to 36th in SP+ for overall defensive efficiency.
Photo by Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images
Wet Paper Bag
And now I’ll get to why Belichick is my DC to watch. The 2024 UNC Tar Heels defense got the wet paper bag award for last season. Bill Belichick has brought in a ton of transfers and he and his son will have to get a ton of work done (SCALLUP!!) in order to fix the culture on defense created by Mack Brown, Geoff Collins, Gene Chizik and Jay Bateman.
UNC has had one of the softest defensive mindsets since Brown returned to Chapel Hill and you won’t regularly beat Miami, Georgia Tech, SMU and Clemson if you can’t track and finish. One of the biggest question marks in college football is B. Belichick’s move to the college ranks and the UNC defense.
Photo by Peyton Williams/Getty Images
My interest is piqued
There are plenty of things about the ACC that have my interest piqued. Can Manny Diaz carry over his success from year one at Duke? Can Bill Belichick really coach college players and especially at a basketball school like UNC? Will Carson Beck’s elbow be 100% for Notre Dame in August?
My interest is most piqued by Belichick at UNC. This is one hell of a business and social experiment. I’m all here for Bill’s dating drama, his pro mentality at the college level and the fact that UNC has Max Johnson at QB- a far cry from Tom Brady.
Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images
Mr. Consistency in doubt
The NC State Wolfpack have been one of the most consistent programs in the ACC through the past decade. That’s because they’ve held onto head coach Dave Doeren since the 2013 season. Doeren has strung together seven 8-9 win seasons and 87 wins in Raleigh. But with coordinator turnover at DC now as well as once against at OC, Doeren’s run as Mr. Consistency could be coming to an end.
Kevin Concepion has taken his talents to College Station, TX and the Wolfpack will have about a dozen transfers listed in the two deep. New DC D.J. Eliot will continue to run a 3-3-5 defense, the same look Tony Gibson deployed at NCSU before leaving for Marshall.
Kurt Roper replaces Robert Anae as OC and Roper has familiar ties to both Doeren and Eliot. Roper has connections to David Cutcliffe and will run a pretty standard NCAA Offense rather than Anae’s motion and shift slash QB run game spectacle.
Doeren will need another nine win season to offset the hype surrounding Diaz at Duke and Belichick at NC State. Will the Wolfpacks most successful head coach be on the chopping block if NCSU struggles.
Photo by Lance King/Getty Images
Swol and Speedy
My ACC strength coaches to watch are coming from SMU, Louisville, and NC State. These are guys taking three-star players and turning them into NFL draft picks and All-ACC types.
Shawn Griswold, SMU. Taking P4 castaways and turning three-star players into an ACC runner-up and CFB playoff team is no small feat. Griswold sure looks the part and prior to SMU he was producing tough and athletic players for the eccentric Bronco Mendenhall at UVA.
Domenic Reno, Louisville. Reno came to Louisville from Purdue where he had worked with Brohm. Reno helped turn Ashton Gillotte into a defensive lineman from a skinny tight end, while keeping oft-injured QB’s in Plummer and Shough healthy.
Dantonio Burnette, NC State. Burnette has managed to put two dozen players in the NFL while with the Doeren regime. That includes three first round picks and million dollar man Alim McNeill, the Detroit Lions DT.
Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images
Culture Crisis
I almost forgot Mike Norvell was still the head football coach at FSU. The Florida State Seminoles have pulled a Larry Coker and fired Norvell’s OC and DC after a 2-10 season in Tallahassee. Alex Atkins and Adam Fuller are out, Gus Malzahn and Tony White are in.
The kings of portal over prep recruiting, FSU is now relying on former Boston College sit-out QB Thomas Castellanos as Norvell’s savior. FSU will play over a dozen transfers in their two deep in ‘25. Even FSU fans are predicting six wins heading into the summer doldrums.
FSU has a tough schedule with four preseason ranked opponents, but they are facing Alabama and Miami at home even if they travel to the Florida Gators. FSU also will host Virginia Tech and Pitt. That’s a favorable home slate even if they face some tougher opponents.
Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images
Greentree Hall of Fame
With the hype machine fully around Miami TE Elija Lofton (Whoops. I’m at fault, too) from spring practice sessions that have been blown up by the message board warriors, Lofton’s jersey is in the practice superstar Hall of Fame.
Who else has been in the Greentree HOF in recent years? Leave your two cents in the comments!
Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The hype train has no brakes. Let’s keep it rollin’ into the 2025 season, y’all.