The Best Player All 14 ACC Football Teams Have Ever Produced

The SEC is widely considered college football’s premier conference, but the ACC has also boasted plenty of talent over the decades. Some legendary football players have honed their skills on the teams that comprise it, and there are some that stand out when it comes to the most talented guys to play at each school.

These are the best football players that have come out of every team in the ACC

The ACC has been home to some incredibly talented football players who dominated at the college level and managed to pick up where they left off in the NFL.

For the purpose of this list, I’m taking their entire career into consideration as opposed to focusing solely on their time at their alma mater, and if you object to any of the choices I made, you should know I also had trouble deciding between some very worthy candidates.

Boston College: Matt Ryan

There are a handful of notable quarterbacks who have come through Chestnut Hill, but none of them have had the kind of impact Matt Ryan did in The Heights before making his way to the NFL.

The Eagles are still chasing the high of a college career where Ryan breathed new life into a program that had largely been mired in mediocrity since Doug Flutie became the first (and still only) BC player to win the Heisman. The man known as “Matty Ice” was selected by the Falcons with the third overall pick, and he spent the majority of a 15-year NFL career in Atlanta while earning four Pro Bowl nods along with MVP honors in 2016.

Honorable Mentions: Matt Ryan, Luke Kuechly, Bill Romanowski

Clemson: Brian Dawkins

Clemson is to ACC football what Duke is to basketball: a school that’s produced a ton of incredibly talented college players who struggled to dominate like they had after making the leap to the pros.

With that said, there are some notable exceptions, and none of them stick out more than Brian Dawkins. He was a standout safety with the Tigers who was picked by the Eagles in the second round of the NFL Draft in 1996 and spent the bulk of his 16-year career in Philadelphia en route to retiring as a nine-time Pro Bowler.

Honorable Mentions: DeAndre Hopkins, William Perry

Duke: Sonny Jurgensen

Unlike the aforementioned basketball program, Duke has historically struggled to attract top-tier talent, and there aren’t exactly a ton of candidates to pick from when it comes to the best football players to suit up for the Blue Devils.

That does make it much easier to give the nod to Sonny Jurgensen, the North Carolina native who stayed close to home in college in the 1950s before embarking on an 18-year journey in the NFL, where he was named to the Pro Bowl five times as a quarterback for the Eagles and the team that’s now known as the Commanders.

Honorable Mentions: Mike Curtis, George McAfee

Florida State: Derrick Brooks

This was a tough one, and while I can’t blame anyone who’d argue Deion Sanders should earn the honors, I’m giving it to Derrick Brooks.

There’s zero doubt Primetime was the more talented all-around athlete, as Brooks never balanced his NFL career with one in the MLB. He did, however, make the Pro Bowl 11 times, win Defensive Player of the Year, and help the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl while spending all 14 seasons he played in the NFL in Tampa Bay.

Honorable Mentions: Deion Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Fred Biletnikoff

Georgia Tech: Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson was an athletic phenom who initially wanted to play football and baseball at Georgia Tech before opting for the former at his mother’s behest.

That turned out to be a pretty good call, as the Yellow Jackets reaped the benefits of having Megatron on the roster before he took his talents to the NFL and cemented himself as one of the best wide receivers to ever step foot on the gridiron.

Honorable Mentions: Marco Coleman, Demaryius Thomas, Billy Shaw

Louisville: Johnny Unitas

There is obviously a quarterback who’s currently in the NFL who springs to mind here, and while there’s a chance Lamar Jackson ends up cementing himself as the best player to come out of Louisville, I don’t see how you can argue he’s been able to surpass the legendary Johnny Unitas.

Unitas flew under the radar at Louisville but ended up being a three-time NFL MVP (Jackson “only” has two) and a three-time champion who made the Pro Bowl ten times. Jackson has certainly given him a run for his money so far (especially when you consider what he achieved with the Cardinals), but I’d argue the Heisman winner still needs to firm up his résume to rival The Golden Arm.

Honorable Mentions: Lamar Jackson, Deion Branch, Joe Jacoby

Miami: Ray Lewis

There is not a single school here that presented more of a conundrum than Miami thanks in large part to the defensive legends that have done their thing for The U.

At the end of the day, I decided to go with Ray Lewis, who made a name for himself as a wrecking ball who played for the Hurricanes for three seasons before leaving early to head to the NFL.

The Ravens got him in the first round in 1997, and he spent 17 years terrorizing opposing offenses while racking up 13 Pro Bowl selections, seven first-team All-Pro nods, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and a couple of Super Bowl rings (as well as MVP honors for his contributions against the Giants in The Big Game).

Honorable Mentions: Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Warren Sapp, 

NC State: Phillip Rivers

Phillip Rivers was a consistent contributor during the four years he spent playing quarterback at NC State, and was named ACC Player of the Year after wrapping up his time with the Wolfpack in 2003.

He spent all but one of the 17 seasons he played in the NFL with the Chargers and was a similarly reliable QB who was named to the Pro Bowl eight times while making sure he’d be able to take care of the 10 kids he has with the nearly $245 million in earnings he compiled.

Honorable Mentions: Ted Brown, Torry Holt, Mario Williams

North Carolina: Lawrence Taylor

I’m not sure if there’s a bigger no-brainer on this list than Lawrence Taylor, who is not only the best to ever suit up for UNC but arguably the greatest player—defensive or otherwise—to step onto the gridiron.

LT started his college career in Chapel Hill as a lineman before switching to linebacker ahead of his senior season, and he capped off his time with the Tar Heels as an All-American who was named ACC Player of the Year in 1980.

The Giants selected him with the second overall pick in 1981, and it landed them an MVP and three-time Defensive Player of the Year who helped them win a Super Bowl during the 13 seasons he spent with New York.

Honorable Mentions: Julius Peppers, Jeff Saturday

Pittsburgh: Dan Marino

Most of the schools on this list required their fair share of deliberation, but that was not the case with Pitt.

There is zero doubt that Dan Marino is the best player to ever suit up for the Panthers, who were just a few years removed from the national championship they won after Tony Dorsett also put himself in the running for this title.

The QB wasn’t able to win a championship at Pitt, and his inability to get a Super Bowl ring during the 17 seasons he spent with the Dolphins is the only major knock on his legacy. However, Marino was still an absolute force to be reckoned with as a nine-time Pro Bowler who led the league in passing yards on five occasions and was named Most Valuable Player in 1984.

Honorable Mentions: Tony Dorsett, Aaron Donald, Larry Fitzgerald

Syracuse: Jim Brown

Syracuse may be known as a basketball school, but its football team has churned out some impressive talent.

There is a fair amount of competition, but it’s hard for any player to hold a candle to the legendary Jim Brown, the multisport athlete who also excelled in basketball and lacrosse at Syracuse before heading to the NFL after the Browns selected him with the first overall pick in 1957.

He spent the next nine seasons cementing himself as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history as a nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time MVP who led the league in rushing yards eight times while helping Cleveland win a championship.

Honorable Mentions: Donovan McNabb, Marvin Harrison, Larry Csonka 

Virginia: Ronde Barber

Virginia landed a pair of talented twin brothers when Ronde and Tiki Barber headed to Charlottesville in 1993. The former, a DB, redshirted his freshman year before leaving after his junior season as a two-time All-American, while the latter was a standout running back who was named ACC Player of the Year during his senior season in 1996.

The Giants selected Tiki in the second round in 1997, while the Buccaneers got Ronde with the third. They both did pretty well for themselves in the NFL, but the man who headed to Tampa Bay ended up having the more successful career on the field.

Ronde ended up being named to the Pro Bowl five times, was a three-time first-team All-Pro, won a Super Bowl, and is the only player in NFL history to have at least 45 interceptions and 25 sacks over the course of their career—a résumé that landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

Honorable Mentions: Tiki Barber, Herman Moore, Chris Long, 

Virginia Tech: Bruce Smith

My first instinct was to give the nod to Michael Vick, and while he may have been one of the most electric dual-threat quarterbacks in the history of football, he’s ultimately unable to match the legacy of Bruce Smith.

Smith was a sack machine during his time with the Hokies and continued to produce after the Bills used the first overall pick in the 1985 NFL Draft to secure the right to sign him. He was also the first name called in the UFL Draft that year, but he opted to go to Buffalo to kick off a Hall of Fame career where he was an eight-time first-team All-Pro, 11-time Pro Bowler, and two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

He was a major contributor on a Bills squad that made it to the Super Bowl four times in a row beginning in 1990, but as most NFL fans probably know, none of those trips ended with the ring that eluded Smith until he retired after 19 seasons.

Honorable Mentions: Michael Vick, DeAngelo Hall

Wake Forest: Norm Snead

It was pretty slim pickings when it came to picking the best player Wake Forest has ever produced, and doing so required me to travel back in time a bit before landing on Norm Snead.

Snead set a number of team and ACC passing records while playing quarterback for the Demon Deacons between 1958 and 1960 (although those stats look quaint compared to what other QBs have posted since then), and he was a four-time Pro Bowl during an NFL career where he played for five different teams over the course of 16 seasons.

Honorable Mentions: Bill George, Tony Mayberry