Dabo Swinney Visited Hunter Renfrow At Panthers Camp, Likened Him To 'Superman'

It's always cool to see college football coaches following the careers of their former players after they've moved on to the NFL, but I don't think you'll find too many player-coach dynamics like the one between Carolina Panthers receiver Hunter Renfrow and his former coach during his days at Clemson, Dabo Swinney.

And Swinney still has a lot of praise for a player he has known for a long, long time.

According to the Panthers' website, Swinney was at the team's training camp on Sunday and couldn't resist the urge to hop in and give the six-year veteran and Pro Bowler a little coaching for old time's sake.

Which probably isn't a bad idea, given the two won a pair of National Championships together.

"Oh yeah, I've been coaching Hunter a long time, so that's just kind of that," Swinney said. "We were just talking about some of those one-on-ones, talking about some releases and a couple of little technical aspects."

As Swinney alluded to, he and Renfrow go way back, and that's because the Panthers receiver is buddies with the Clemson head coach's oldest son.

Dabo Swinney compared Panthers wide receiver and former Clemson Tiger Hunter Renfrow to Superman after he returned to the NFL after a health battle. (Getty Images)

"Hunter's more than just a kid I coach," Swinney explained. "He's — my oldest son and him are best of friends, in each other's weddings — so I've spent a lot of family time. We vacation together every year, and we're close, much more than just a coach-player relationship.

"I've known the Renfrow family forever, when Hunter was just a little bitty guy coming up."

Swinney was a key reason that Renfrow is still playing football. That's because a battle with ulcerative colitis made Renfrow consider hanging it up for good after not playing during the 2024 season, after getting released by the Las Vegas Raiders.

Renfrow's health improved, and at one point, he told Swinney that he was going to play for the Panthers. This was before he even had a deal in place.

"But here he is, somehow it's worked out…. I knew he had more football in him, and it's fun to see him happy and just healthy; he'll do the rest," Swinney said before comparing Renfrow to a certain red cape-wearing superhero (no, not that one; he was talking about Superman).

"I know he doesn't look the part, but he puts a helmet on and he turns into Superman."