Clemson’s Dabo Swinney Third Nationally in APR

Sept. 23, 2010

Clemson, SC – According to research compiled by the website ncaafootball.fanhouse.com off data provided by the NCAA, Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney is ranked third in the nation in terms of APR scores for the Clemson program since he took over as director of the program in 2008. The website captured data for the entering classes from 2003-04 through 2008-09, but is specific to each coach.

In 2003, the NCAA created the APR to monitor academic progress of its member institutions. The APR is a formula that takes into account semester-by-semester academic progress in terms of eligibility and retention rates for each scholarship student-athletes. The study includes APR scores at previous schools for a head coach who changes jobs.

Swinney’s program has had an APR score of 982 for his three years as head coach (2008 season was included in the study), trailing only the 985 by Troy Calhoun of Air Force and Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern. Greg Schiano of Rutgers is fourth at 981 and Paul Johnson of Georgia Tech was fifth at 980.

The ACC was the top FBS conference represented with six current coaches among the nation’s top 11. Miami (FL) Head Coach Randy Shannon ranked seventh in the study with a 975 score. Shannon’s Hurricanes meet Swinney’s Tigers at Clemson on October 2. The average score for the ACC head coaches was 964. The average score for all coaches across the nation was 933.8.

Top APR Scores for Active College Coaches

* Includes APR performance at a previous school.