Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast · Locked On Podcast Network, Candace Cooper, Kenton Gibbs

REVEALED: ACC Coach Rankings STUN as Mario Cristobal BATTLES for No. 1—Is Dabo Swinney Over?

·30 min·2 clips

Why Mario Cristobal's program-building at Miami makes him the ACC's top coach, despite critics.

This episode of Locked On ACC features hosts Alex Donno and guest Kenton Gibbs, a former NC State defensive lineman, debating their rankings for the top football coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They specifically argue over whether Miami's Mario Cristobal can be considered the conference's best coach over the historically dominant Dabo Swinney of Clemson. The hosts establish multiple criteria for their rankings, including which coach has set up their team best for the upcoming season and who has built the most sustainable program. For the "set up for success this year" list, Donno and Gibbs place Mario Cristobal at number one, citing his elite recruiting and program architecture at Miami. They rank SMU's Rhett Lashlee second for elevating his program to three straight conference title games after taking over a team known for the "death penalty." Louisville's Jeff Brohm is third for establishing a consistent floor of at least eight wins annually. Dabo Swinney ranks fourth, as his recent struggles at Clemson cause him to "take a tumble" but his track record prevents them from predicting a losing season. NC State's Dave Doeren rounds out the top five based on his high floor and status as a top-ten winningest active coach. In a separate "best career achievements" list, the hosts rank Swinney first, followed by Lashlee, Cristobal, Brohm, and new Stanford coach James Franklin. A surprising claim is that Cristobal's infamous decision not to take a knee against Georgia Tech years ago has led some fans to permanently disqualify him from top rankings. Gibbs argues that for building a winner at a random ACC program fastest, he would choose either Rhett Lashlee or Jeff Brohm. The hosts note that Dave Doeren, despite his consistency, is excluded from the career list because he lacks an ACC Championship game appearance, which every other coach on that list has. They engage in a lengthy critique of new UNC coach Bill Belichick, ranking him last in the ACC due to his lack of college success and perceived motives. Donno adds he would rank Belichick last in caring for players, contrasting him with Syracuse's Fran Brown. The tone is highly conversational and opinionated, featuring friendly debate and smack talk between the two hosts. The style is analytical but informal, blending statistical arguments with personal anecdotes and hypothetical scenarios. College football fans who enjoy program-building analysis, coaching debates, and ACC-centric discussion will love this episode. Listeners seeking objective reporting or those uninterested in speculative offseason rankings might want to skip it.

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