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Swinney, Mario, and Heupel Top Week 10 Indictments

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Nov 2, 2025 4:14 PM ET

In Week 10, several prominent coaches faced justified indictments for poor performance, recurring poor trends, and the potential for lost seasons. In almost all cases, these coaches have strong resumes with notable achievements. But in today’s world of college football, where the biggest name brands fire elite coaches before Halloween, nobody is safe.

Week 10 revealed that Dabo Swinney has clearly gone stale with the Clemson Tigers. Meanwhile, Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel is bound to start feeling heat from the notoriously impatient Tennessee Volunteer fans. At the same time, Mario Cristobal has enraged Miami Hurricanes fans by coaching down his loaded roster and handcuffing it.

Dabo Dabo Done!

The late, great NFL Hall of Fame owner Al Davis used to say that a coach had a shelf life of roughly a decade. Since 2009, Dabo Swinney has been head coach of the Clemson Tigers. And he will go down as the greatest coach in school history with two national championships.

But the 2020 season was the last one that Swinney led Clemson to a Top Five ranking. Since 2021, Clemson has become a Top 20-type program. Clemson has lost at least three games in the past four seasons.

Swinney’s refusal to fully adapt to the modern realities of the transfer portal and lucrative NIL deals for players has long been known. But after vowing change, the roof is falling on Dabo.

In Week 10, Clemson lost 46-45 to the Duke Blue Devils in Death Valley, a once-unfathomable result. The Tigers (3-5, 2-6 ACC) are facing the distinct possibility of missing a bowl game. Videos of Swinney ranting and raving at his defense went viral on Saturday and were indicative of a coach who has likely lost his team.

Clemson may not be able to do better than Swinney, but the time has come for a fresh approach, which may only be accomplished by a new head coach.

Mario Cristobal – A One Trick Pony

Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal giveth and taketh. Fans of his teams can rest assured that the roster will be fully stocked with elite talent. However, that is offset by the fact that those players will be poorly coached.

In Week 10, for the second time in three games, Miami suffered an upset loss as a double-digit favorite. The opponent was the SMU Mustangs, who beat The U 26-20 in overtime after rallying to tie the game on a field goal in the final seconds.

Miami (6-2, 2-2 ACC) outgained SMU and had a whopping 37:42 time of possession, but played it too close to the vest, as they did in a previous loss to Louisville.

Cristobal is a former offensive lineman and O-line coach. His meathead mentality is wasting the athleticism, speed, and overall talent that he recruited.

Miami fans are feeling a sense of déjà vu all over again with Cristobal, who is to many an idiot savant. There is Super Mario the Recruiter and then there is Clueless Cristobal, the inept Game Day coach.

The loaded Canes could be on the outside looking in for the Atlantic Coast Conference title and a College Football Playoff bid. There is a Hurricane of rage and disgust from Miami fans.

Josh Heupel and Tennessee Make a Bad Week Worse

Week 10 was a bad one on Rocky Top, starting with the departure of its baseball program’s GOAT coach, Tony Vitello, who became the first college baseball coach to take a Major League Baseball managerial position.

Vitello is off to the San Francisco Giants, reportedly because of his frustration with UT athletic director Tony White, who is credited with hiring Josh Heupel as head football coach upon arriving.

But Tennessee fans who were plenty steamed about that news had even more to stew over on Saturday.

It is undeniable that Heupel got off to a strong start at Tennessee, with Top 10 finishes in 2022 and 2024. Heupel took the Big Orange to the 2024 CFP, but the Vols lost in a blowout to the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State exposed Tennessee as soft. And that weakness has become more pronounced in 2025.

Since that loss to the Buckeyes, Tennessee (6-3, 3-3 SEC) has not been the same. In Week 10, the Vols lost at Neyland Stadium 33-27 to the Oklahoma Sooners, Heupel’s alma mater, as favorites. It was the second loss in three games for Big Orange, which has one of the worst defenses in the nation.

Oklahoma was considered a beatable team, and there was speculation that Heupel could be in the mix to take over as its next head coach. Instead, Heupel would be well advised to fix his defense and running game and focus on finishing strong in what looks to be a lost season.

Big Orange fans are feeling as they did when Butch Jones patrolled the sidelines. That is not good for White or Heupel.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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