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Dabo Swinney made history with Clemson’s win over Stanford on Saturday.
It was the 173rd win of Swinney’s head coaching career, which ties with alongside the great Bobby Bowden for the most victories by an ACC head coach.
Looking at two legends 🤝
Dabo Swinney joins Bobby Bowden at the top of the All-time ACC coaching win list. pic.twitter.com/CijhY9Refe
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 29, 2024
In his postgame press conference, Swinney said it was “surreal” to now be tied with Bowden for the record.
“It’s kinda surreal. I have a picture in my office of when I had one win,” Swinney said. “One … but it’s a picture of me and Bobby Bowden.
“I can’t say enough how much love I have for the Bowden family.”
Bowden won over 300 games as Florida State’s head coach, but not all of those victories came with the Noles as a members of the ACC. Bowden coached Florida State from 1976 to 1991 when it was still independent.
Bowden’s ACC tenure stretched from 1992 through 2009. His win total also took a hit after Florida State was forced to vacate wins from the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
Swinney has led a remarkable run at Clemson over his tenure. Until last season, the Tigers won at least 10 games in every campaign from 2011-22. To Bowden’s credit, he once had a streak of 14 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins at FSU (1987-2000).
Swinney will be in position to break the official ACC wins record next weekend against Bowden’s Noles in Tallahassee.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
