Dabo Swinney says if Browns pass on Deshaun Watson ‘they’re passing Michael Jordan.’ They did.

Coaches should always ride for their players both current and former. With a player as transcendent of a talent like Deshaun Watson, it’s easy to see why Clemson coach Dabo Swinney would go all out in effusive praise for his guy.

“If they pass on Deshaun Watson, they’re passing on Michael Jordan I’m just telling you,” Swinney said of the Browns in January.

The Browns did indeed pass on Watson, taking Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett with the first overall pick. Then the Bears traded up from the third pick to the second and drafted UNC’s Mitchell Trubisky, making Watson not the top QB.

This was not the first time Swinney has come to the public defense of his former QB. It’s also very much in Swinney’s aesthetic to come off like a folksy salesman, primarily because he was a folksy salesman before landing at Clemson as an assistant coach.

Back in the winter, Swinney said this on the Rich Eisen show about anyone who doesn’t view Watson as a first round talent.

“They should lose their jobs,” Swinney said. “That is absolutely the craziest thing. They don’t know Deshaun. I mean, I can’t even tell you how brilliant he is as a football player, as a person, how impactful of a man he is. He’s going to change a locker room the day he gets there. He’s just so driven, so humble. (He has an) unbelievable understanding of his platform and his skill set is off the charts. He can do anything and everything.”