2021 Atlantic Coast Conference football season

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.

Previous season
Clemson defeated Notre Dame 34–10 in the ACC Football Championship Game. The victory, along with a 10–1 regular season record, earned Clemson a berth in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers were the number two seed in the playoff and faced Ohio State in the 2021 Sugar Bowl, where the Tigers lost 28–49.

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.

Preseason ACC Player of the Year
Source:

Preseason All-Conference Teams
Source:

Coaching changes
There are no coaching changes for the 2021 season.

Head coaching records
Notes
 * Records shown after the 2021 season
 * Years at school includes the 2021 season

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.

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.

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.

ACC vs Group of Five matchups
The following games include ACC teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt.

ACC vs FBS independents matchups
The following games include ACC teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, UConn or UMass.

ACC vs FCS matchups
The Football Championship Subdivision comprises 13 conferences and two independent programs.

Records against other conferences
Regular season

Post Season

Bowl games
For the 2020–2025 bowl cycle, The ACC will have annually ten appearances in the following bowls: Orange Bowl and Peach Bowl (unless they are selected for playoffs filled by a SEC and at-large team if champion is in the playoffs), Military Bowl, Duke's Mayo Bowl, Gator Bowl, Cheez-It Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Outback Bowl, Holiday Bowl and Sun Bowl. The ACC teams will go to a New Year's Six bowl if a team finishes higher than the champions of Power Five conferences in the final College Football Playoff rankings. The ACC champion are also eligible for the College Football Playoff if they're among the top four teams in the final CFP ranking.

Rankings are from AP Poll. Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. ACC teams shown in bold. The Gator Bowl opponent for Wake Forest was originally scheduled to be Texas A&M. Due to COVID-19 issues with Texas A&M, they were replaced with Rutgers. The Sun Bowl originally scheduled Miami to face Washington, but Miami had to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues. The Military Bowl originally scheduled Boston College to face East Carolina, but Boston College had to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues. The Fenway Bowl originally scheduled Virginia to face SMU, but Virginia had to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues.

All Conference Teams
Source:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

ACC individual awards
ACC Player of the Year
 * Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

ACC Rookie of the Year
 * Tyler Van Dyke, Miami

ACC Coach of the Year
 * Dave Clawson, Wake Forest

ACC Offensive Player of the Year
 * Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year
 * Tyler Van Dyke, Miami

Jacobs Blocking Trophy
 * Ikem Ekwonu, NC State

ACC Defensive Player of the Year
 * Jermaine Johnson II, Florida State

ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year
 * Andrew Mukuba, Clemson

Consensus All-Americans
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least half of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team by all five selectors are deemed unanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans.

National Awards

 * Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award: Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh

Home game attendance
Bold – Exceeded capacity †Season High