The 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, part of the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season, was the 69th season of college football play for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It began on September 2, 2021, and ended on December 31, 2021. The ACC consists of 14 members in two divisions.
Preseason
ACC Kickoff The 2021 ACC Kickoff was held on July 21 and 22nd at the Westin hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. Each team had their head coach and three players available to talk to the media at the event. Coverage of the event was televised on ACC Network. On July 26, 2021, the ACC Preseason Media Poll was released, which projected Clemson to win its 7th consecutive ACC title.
+Atlantic 1 Clemson 1,028 (146) 2 NC State 804 (1) 3 Boston College 638 4 Florida State 510 5 Wake Forest 472 6 Louisville 462 7 Syracuse 202 +Coastal 1 North Carolina 979 (109) 2 Miami 881 (28) 3 Virginia Tech 582 (3) 4 Pittsburgh 576 (1) 5 Virginia 540 (2) 6 Georgia Tech 340 (4) 7 Duke 218 Media poll (ACC Championship) 1 Clemson 125 2 North Carolina 16 3 Miami 3 4 Virginia 1 Georgia Tech NC State
Preseason ACC Player of the Year Source:
Ranking Player Position Team Votes 1 Sam Howell QB North Carolina 114 2 D'Eriq King QB Miami 11 3 Bryan Bresee DE Clemson 8 4 DJ Uiagalelei QB 6 5 Phil Jurkovec QB Boston College 3 6 Zay Flowers WR 2 Jahmyr Gibbs AP Georgia Tech
Preseason All-Conference Teams Source:
Offense
Position Player School Votes Quarterback Sam Howell North Carolina 118 Running back Zonovan Knight NC State 96 Mataeo Durant Duke 49 Wide receiver Justyn Ross Clemson 110 Zay Flowers Boston College 101 Jaquarii Roberson Wake Forest 80 Tight end James Mitchell Virginia Tech 77 All-Purpose Jahmyr Gibbs Georgia Tech 56 Tackle Ikem Ekwonu NC State 83 Jordan McFadden Clemson 53 Guard Zion Johnson Boston College 82 Joshua Ezeudu North Carolina 56 Center Alec Lindstrom Boston College 77
Defense
Position Player School Votes Defensive end Myles Murphy Clemson 108 Amaré Barno Virginia Tech 63 Defensive tackle Bryan Bresee Clemson 120 Tyler Davis Clemson 53 Linebacker Payton Wilson NC State 99 James Skalski Clemson 95 Nick Jackson Virginia 37 Cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. Clemson 86 Tony Grimes North Carolina 55 Safety Bubba Bolden Miami 100 Nolan Turner Clemson 85
Specialist Position Player School Votes Placekicker Nick Sciba Wake Forest 69 Punter Lou Hedley Miami 84 Specialist Jahmyr Gibbs Georgia Tech 60
Preseason award watchlists
Award Head coach/player School Position Reference Lott Trophy Andrew Booth Jr. Clemson CB Nolan Turner S Shaka Heyward Duke LB Deslin Alexander Pittsburgh DE Chamarri Conner Virginia Tech DB Nick Jackson Virginia LB Nick Anderson Wake Forest LB Dodd Trophy Mack Brown North Carolina Head coach Dabo Swinney Clemson Maxwell Award Phil Jurkovec Boston College QB Zay Flowers WR DJ Uiagalelei Clemson QB Justyn Ross WR Mataeo Durant Duke RB McKenzie Milton Florida State QB Malik Cunningham Louisville QB D'Eriq King Miami QB Zonovan Knight NC State RB Kenny Pickett Pittsburgh QB Brennan Armstrong Virginia QB Jaquarii Roberson Wake Forest WR Bednarik Award Bryan Bresee Clemson DT Nolan Turner S Amari Gainer Florida State LB Bubba Bolden Miami S Payton Wilson NC State LB Jeremiah Gemmel North Carolina LB Calijah Kancey Pittsburgh DT Davey O'Brien Award Malik Cunningham Louisville QB Sam Howell North Carolina Phil Jurkovec Boston College D'Eriq King Miami McKenzie Milton Florida State DJ Uiagalelei Clemson Doak Walker Award Christian Beal-Smith Wake Forest RB Ty Chandler North Carolina Jashaun Corbin Florida State Lawrance Toafili Lyn-J Dixon Clemson Mataeo Durant Duke Jahmyr Gibbs Georgia Tech Jordan Mason Zonovan Knight NC State Jalen Mitchell Louisville Sean Tucker Syracuse Fred Biletnikoff Award Jordan Addison Pittsburgh WR Emeka Emezie NC State Zay Flowers Boston College Mike Harley Miami Taj Harris Syracuse Billy Kemp IV Virginia Jaquarii Roberson Wake Forest Justyn Ross Clemson
Award Head coach/player School Position Reference John Mackey Award James Mitchell Virginia Tech TE Will Mallory Miami (FL) Garrett Walston North Carolina Braden Galloway Clemson Brandon Chapman Wake Forest Camren McDonald Florida State Lucas Krull Pittsburgh Jelani Woods Virginia Rimington Trophy Alec Lindstrom Boston College OL Jack Wohlabaugh Duke Cole Bentley Louisville Grant Gibson NC State Olusegun Oluwatimi Virginia Butkus Award James Skalski Clemson LB Baylon Spector Amari Gainer Florida State Jeremiah Gemmel North Carolina Payton Wilson NC State Mikel Jones Syracuse Nick Jackson Virginia Outland Trophy Bryan Bresee Clemson DE Tyler Davis DT Jordan McFadden OT Ikem Ekwonu NC State G Grant Gibson Joshua Ezeudu North Carolina Brock Hoffman Virginia Tech C Zion Johnson Boston College G Tyler Vrabel OT Alec Lindstrom C Zion Nelson Miami (FL) OT Jarrid Williams Zach Tom Wake Forest Raymond Vohasek North Carolina DT Bronko Nagurski Trophy Bubba Bolden Miami (FL) S Bryan Bresee Clemson DT Myles Murphy DE James Skalski LB Nolan Turner S Calijah Kancey Pittsburgh DT Raymond Vohasek North Carolina LB Payton Wilson NC State LB Lou Groza Award Christoper Dunn NC State PK Charlie Ham Duke B. T. Potter Clemson Nick Sciba Wake Forest Andre Szmyt Syracuse James Turner Louisville
Award Head coach/player School Position Reference Paul Hornung Award Jahmyr Gibbs Georgia Tech RB Donavon Greene Wake Forest WR Zonovan Knight NC State RB Jaylan Knighton Miami (FL) RB Wuerffel Trophy Darien Rencher Clemson RB Jake Bobo Duke WR Camren McDonald Florida State TE Juanyeh Thomas Georgia Tech DB Isaiah Moore NC State LB Kingsley Jonathan Syracuse DL Cal Adomitis Pittsburgh LS Deslin Alexandre DL Brock Hoffman Virginia Tech OL Tyriq Hardimon Wake Forest DB Walter Camp Award Bryan Bresee Clemson DT Justyn Ross WR Sam Howell North Carolina QB D'Eriq King Miami (FL) Manning Award Malik Cunningham Louisville QB Sam Howell North Carolina Phil Jurkovec Boston College D'Eriq King Miami (FL) Kenny Pickett Pittsburgh Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award D'Eriq King Miami (FL) QB Beau Corrales North Carolina WR Ray Guy Award Ben Kiernan North Carolina P Ivan Mora Wake Forest Kirk Christodoulou Pittsburgh Lou Hedley Miami (FL) Porter Wilson Duke Trenton Gill NC State Will Spiers Clemson Polynesian College Football Player Of The Year Award Lawrance Toafili Florida State RB DJ Uiagalelei Clemson QB Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Brennan Armstrong Virginia QB Braxton Burmeister Virginia Tech Malik Cunningham Louisville Tommy DeVito Syracuse Sam Hartman Wake Forest Sam Howell North Carolina Phil Jurkovec Boston College D'Eriq King Miami (FL) Devin Leary NC State McKenzie Milton Florida State Kenny Pickett Pittsburgh
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals 24/7Signees Boston College 38 32 37 29 Clemson 4 7 5 19 Duke 60 57 18 Florida State 19 30 23 24 Georgia Tech 34 48 47 23 Louisville 30 29 39 24 Miami 9 10 11 21 North Carolina 7 16 14 19 NC State 31 45 35 20 Pittsburgh 33 21 27 23 Syracuse 51 56 22 Virginia 32 31 32 24 Virginia Tech 43 45 27 Wake Forest 66 65 19
Coaches
Coaching changes There are no coaching changes for the 2021 season.
Head coaching records
Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school ACC record Boston College Jeff Hafley 2 12–11 12–11 7–11 Clemson Dabo Swinney 13 150–36 150–36 91–19 Duke David Cutcliffe 14 121–126 77–98 35–80 Florida State Mike Norvell 2 46–28 8–13 6–10 Georgia Tech Geoff Collins 3 24–35 9–25 7–18 Louisville Scott Satterfield 3 69–43 18–19 12–13 Miami Manny Diaz 3 21–15 21–15 16–9 North Carolina Mack Brown 13 265–139–1 90–63–1 55–47–1 Dave Doeren 9 87–53 64–49 34–40 Pittsburgh Pat Narduzzi 7 52–37 52–37 36–22 Syracuse Dino Babers 6 66–59 29–43 15–35 Virginia Bronco Mendenhall 6 135–81 36–38 22–27 Virginia Tech Justin Fuente 6 69–54 43–31 28–21 Wake Forest Dave Clawson 8 141–127 51–48 26–39
Notes Records shown after the 2021 season Years at school includes the 2021 season
Rankings
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 FinalBoston College AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Clemson AP 3 (6) 6 6 9 25 RV RV RV RV 22 19 14C 2 6 6 7 19 21 25 24 RV RV RV RV 24 22 16CFP Not released 23 20 19 Duke AP C CFP Not released Florida State AP RV C RV RV CFP Not released Georgia Tech AP C CFP Not released Louisville AP RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released Miami AP 14 22 24 C 16 24 RV RV CFP Not released North Carolina AP 10 24 21 21 RV C 9 22 19 20 RV RV CFP Not released NC State AP RV RV 23 23 22 18 RV RV 21 25 24 21 18 20C RV RV RV RV 22 21 18 25 22 19 24 24 20 18 19CFP Not released 19 16 20 20 18 18 Pittsburgh AP RV RV RV 23 17 RV 25 20 20 17 13 13C RV RV RV RV RV 23 19 25 22 19 17 15 12 13 CFP Not released 25 21 18 17 15 12 Syracuse AP C CFP Not released Virginia AP RV C RV RV RV CFP Not released Virginia Tech AP 19 15 RV RV RV C RV 21 15 RV RV RV CFP Not released Wake Forest AP RV 24 19 16 16 13 10 13 13 21 18 20 15C RV 25 20 16 15 13 9 13 12 21 18 19 14CFP Not released 9 12 10 18 16 17
Schedule The regular season will begin on September 2 and will end on November 27. The ACC Championship game is scheduled for December 4, 2021.
Regular season
Week one
Week two
Week three
Week four
Week five
Date Bye Week October 2 Virginia Tech
Week six
Date Bye Week October 9 Boston College Clemson Miami No. 23 NC State Pittsburgh
Week seven
Date Bye Week October 16 Florida State Georgia Tech Louisville No. 16 Wake Forest
Week eight
Date Bye Week October 23 Duke North Carolina
Week nine
Week ten
The game between North Carolina and Wake Forest is being played as a non-conference game and will therefore not count in the conference standings.
Date Bye Week November 6 Syracuse Virginia
Week eleven
Week twelve
Week thirteen
Championship game
ACC vs other conferences
ACC vs Power Five matchups The following games include ACC teams competing against Power Five conferences teams from the Big Ten, Big 12, BYU/Notre Dame, Pac-12 and SEC). All rankings are from the AP Poll at the time of the game.