2023 Post-Spring ACC Power Rankings: Why Florida State takes the top spot over Clemson
With spring football in the rearview mirror, the transfer portal activity slowly — albeit not totally — starting to slow down, and coaches on the road out recruiting their next wave of future signees, now is a great time to assess where teams stand entering the summer before the 2023 season.
On Monday, we debuted the series with the 2023 SEC post-spring power rankings. We continued the series with the nation’s second-best conference in the Big Ten and then the 2023 Big 12 Power Rankings.
Today, we take a look at the ACC, which has two of the Top 10 teams in the country in Florida State and Clemson, plus a North Carolina team with preseason Heisman Trophy contender Drake Maye. The league is also riddled with transfer quarterbacks play music chairs within the conference.
Here’s how I see the league stacking up in the 2023 ACC post-spring power rankings.
1. Florida State
The Seminoles enter the summer with more 2023 hype than any team in America. Mike Norvell’s squad returns 16 starters off a 10-3 team a year ago — the most returning production in the country, per ESPN — including stars like quarterback Jordan Travis and edge rusher Jared Verse.
Norvell has also become the Portal King this offseason, supplementing FSU’s roster with key transfers like Michigan State wideout Keon Coleman, tight ends Jahiem Bell and Kyle Morlock, Auburn guard Keiondre Jones and Western Michigan defensive lineman Brandon Fiske.
Florida State opens the season with LSU, and in a division-less ACC this year, it may play Clemson twice in order to win the league. But entering the summer, the Noles have less question marks than the Tigers.
2. Clemson
The Tigers are looking to repeat as ACC Champions in 2023, returning a strong core from a group that went undefeated in conference play last season.
Cade Klubnick takes over full-time at QB, but he’ll be working in an upgraded offense led by wunderkind OC Garrett Riley, who comes over from TCU. The Tigers will run a varied version the Air Raid, but with a receiving core that still has some uncertainties, they’ll continue to lean on tailbacks Will Shipley and Phil Mafah.
The Tigers lost some key pieces off of their defensive line, but 5-star freshman Peter Woods impressed this spring and will start immediately. Clemson also has the best linebacker duo in Barrett Carter and Jeremiah Trotter.
3. North Carolina
If not for USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina would bring back the best quarterback in the country this fall in Drake Maye. The Tar Heels were able to keep Maye in Chapel Hill after some (cough, cough) unnamed program tried to lure him into a transfer.
He’ll be working with a new OC in Chip Lindsey, and while he lost his top playmaker Josh Downs to the NFL Draft, UNC brought in transfer wideouts Nate McCollum from Georgia Tech and Devontez Walker from Kent State to retool the room. The Heels are set at tailback and offensive line, but they’ll be hard-pressed to return to the ACC Championship unless their defense makes some drastic strides.
Their secondary has been completely revamped, and they’re banking on transfers like ex-FSU pass rusher Amari Gainer and ETSU defensive back Alijah Huzzie to contribute immediately.
4. Louisville
The Cardinals are a darkhorse ACC contender this fall thanks to an upgrade at head coach and a cupcake conference schedule that doesn’t include Clemson, FSU or UNC.
Jeff Brohm returned home and has overhauled Louisville’s roster with 20 transfers, improving the team’s receiving corp, offensive line and secondary. He also signed his 2023 quarterback in Cal transfer Jack Plummer, who reunites with Brohm after spending three seasons at Purdue with 14 starts, and Stanford edge rusher Stephen Herron.
The Cards lost key linebackers Yasir Abdullah, Momo Sanogo and Monty Montgomery, but their defense should still be one of the better units in the ACC.
5. North Carolina State
Dave Doeren used his OC opening as an opportunity to hire Robert Anae and reunite the former Virginia coordinator with ex-Cavs QB Brennan Armstrong. The Wolfpack were forced to play four different QBs last season, so Armstrong, who thrived in Anae’s offense in 2021 (31 touchdowns to 10 picks, 8.9 yards per attempt) brings some much-needed stability to the team.
Still, NC State will once again be led by its defense. The Wolfpack lost top targets Thayer Thomas and Devin Carter, and their offensive line graduated a pair of All-ACC honorees. Defensively, they bring back six starters (notables include linebacker Payton Wilson and corner Aydan White) off of a unit that was No. 4 in the league in yards per play allowed.
6. Duke
Mike Elko is looking to prove Year 1 was no one-hit wonder at Duke, and although the 2023 schedule is much stiffer, the vibes in Durham remain strong around a team that brings back the foundational pieces off last year’s 9-4 squad.
Duke had 10 players enter the portal this spring, but only one — a backup linebacker — signed with a Power 5 school.
Riley Leonard might be the second-best QB in the ACC in 2023, and he’s one of nine offensive starters who return. The offensive line still needs to coalesce during training camp, but overall, it’s a unit that should be deeper with four transfers from the portal.
Elko dramatically improved Duke’s defense last season (39.8 points per game to 22.1), and he brought in transfer corners AL Blades from Miami and Myles Jones from Texas A&M to replace a pair of departed starters.
7. Miami
After a disastrous Year 1 in Coral Gables, Mario Cristobal has made sure that his Hurricanes carry little resemblance to their 2022 team — from the roster to the coaching staff.
Miami introduced two new coordinators and five assistants this spring, as well as a slew of impact transfers. A bad offensive line has been transformed via a couple of starters from the portal and a pair of 5-star offensive tackle signees.
Cristobal was able to keep quarterback Tyler Van Dyke at Miami after a public flirtation with Alabama, and the expectation coming out of spring is that Miami’s offense should be much more dynamic in Sheldon Dawson’s system.
8. Pittsburgh
Few teams get slept on more each fall than Pat Narduzzi’s Panthers. They seemingly lose impact players to the NFL Draft or transfer portal, but reload and win eight or nine games each year.
That could prove tougher in 2023 though with a non-conference schedule that includes Notre Dame, Cincy and West Virginia, plus ACC foes like Florida State, UNC and Louisville.
Narduzzi brought in BC transfer quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who has yet to be formally named Pitt’s starter post-spring. The Panthers return six starters on offense but must replace star tailback Israel Abanikanda, who led the ACC with 1,431 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in 2022, and leading receiver Jared Wayne, who had 1,057 yards and five touchdowns.
The defense will look a lot different, too, with top pass rushers Calijah Kancey, a 1st Round pick, and linebacker SirVocea Dennis both off to the NFL.
9. Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons moved on from quarterback Sam Hartman this offseason, as the ACC-record holder transferred to Notre Dame while Mitch Griffis is set to be the next star of Dave Clawson’s slow-mesh attack.
Wake Forest must replace top wideout A.T. Perry, but it returns a quartet of sophomores who averaged 40 receptions and over 550 yards last season.
While Wake should remain solid offensively, it needs to make a leap defensively if it wants to compete for a conference title like it did in 2021. The secondary was bad in 2022 (No. 13 in the ACC in pass defense).
10. Syracuse
Is Dino Baber’s entering a put-up or shut-up season? One of college football’s most likable coaches enters the summer on a simmering hot seat after losing six straight games to end the 2022 season.
The Orange do return the ACC’s leading receiver in converted tight end Oronde Gadsden II, and quarterback Garrett Shrader is back, as well. But that’s about it.
Star tailback Sean Tucker is off to the NFL. Three starting OL are gone. They have a new OC in Jason Bech, who was promoted when Anae left for NC State. Shrader actually missed spring practice with an injury, so backup Justin Lamson got most of the work.
The Orange’s defense is undergoing all sorts of change, too. Rocky Long was hired as the new DC, continuing the ‘Cuse’s 3-3-5 defense. He’s tasked with replacing an entire starting secondary, losing impact defensive backs Darion Chestnut (LSU) and Ja’Had Carter (Ohio State) to transfers. Syracuse’s DL was also gutted by the portal, losing starters to South Carolina and Texas Tech.
11. Georgia Tech
After nearly taking the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game as an interim coach, Brent Key was promoted to permanent head coach this offseason, taking over his alma mater which desperately needs some continuity and direction after three failed seasons under Geoff Collins.
Tech brought in Texas A&M transfer Haynes King to compete for the starting QB job, with the Yellow Jackets tabbing Georgia analyst Buster Faulker as OC to jumpstart an anemic attack.
Tech lost multiple key pieces from a bad defense, needing to replace Keion White, linebackers Charlie Thomas and Ayinde Eley, their leading tackler, and cornerback Zamari Walton, so this is a group that likely will struggle again this fall.
12. Virginia Tech
The Hokies had terrible QB play last season, so they hope that former Marshall transfer Grant Wells performs better in Year 2 in Blacksburg (nine TDs to nine INTs). If not, former Baylor quarterback Kyron Drones transferred in and is waiting for his opportunity.
Va. Tech’s offensive struggles certainly weren’t all Wells’ fault in 2022, as the Hokies couldn’t run the ball at all last season (just 3.1 yards per carry, second-worst in the ACC), so second-year head coach Brent Pry went to the portal and grabbed little-known North Carolina A&T transfer Bhaysul Tuten, who had over 1,700 total yards and 17 total touchdowns. The Hokies also grabbed a trio of transfer wideouts from the portal.
Defensively, Va. Tech must replace major departures along its front seven, so it looks to be tough sledding for a unit that actually managed to hold its own for most of the 2022 season (24.1 points per game, 5.4 yards per play allowed, No. 8 in the ACC).
13. Boston College
Not unlike Dino Babers, Jeff Hafley needs a big bounce-back 2023 season to ensure he remains on BC’s sidelines in 2024. The Golden Eagles went 3-9 last season and saw its starting QB transfer to an ACC rival.
BC was a bottom-three team in both offense and defense in 2022, but it returns a solid core of vets on D that could potentially spearhead some improvement from that group this fall. All-ACC pass rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku (team-high 14.5 TFLs) is back, as are impact linebackers Vinny DePalma and Kam Arnold.
If BC has any hope of a turnaround season, the Eagles’ defense needs to lead the way early for an offense that will break in a new QB in Emmett Morehead and is looking to improve an OL that allowed an ACC-high 46 sacks last season.
14. Virginia
Tony Elliott has his work cut out for him in Year 2. After an extremely tough 2022 season where the Cavs combated significant on-and-off-the-field hardships, Virginia returns next to nothing offensively — QB Brennan Armstrong is gone, as are top wideouts Keytaon Thompson, Billy Kemp and Dontayvion Wicks and four starting offensive linemen. Early enrollee Anthony Colandrea looks like the future at QB and should provide UVA faithful with something to be excited about.
On defense, UVA saw top corner Fentrell Cypress II transfer to FSU and linebacker Nick Jackson go to Iowa off a unit that was actually No. 3 in the ACC in yards per play allowed last season. With six starters back, the Cavs need the group to lead the way if they have any hope of flirting with a bowl berth this fall.