Browns OTAs have been generating plenty of buzz this week, and Thursday brought a guest to Berea that nobody saw coming. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made an appearance at OTA No. 9, bringing his staff along and spending time talking with Todd Monken and the Browns coaching staff.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot was on the scene to report the news.
“Deshaun Watson’s Clemson coach, Dabo Swinney, watched OTA No. 9 at Browns today with his staffers and talked to Todd Monken and assistants. Dabo and Watson won a nat’l championship together,” Cabot wrote.
Deshaun Watson’s Clemson coach, Dabo Swinney, watched OTA No. 9 at #Browns today with his staffers and talked to Todd Monken and assistants. Dabo and Watson won a nat’l championship together.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) June 4, 2026
The connection here is obvious. Swinney coached Watson at Clemson, and the two of them won a national championship together in 2016. That relationship goes back nearly a decade, and Swinney knows Watson as well as anyone in the football world. The fact that he made the trip to Berea and spent time talking with Monken suggests this was not a casual visit. There is real purpose behind a college head coach of Swinney’s stature showing up at an NFL team’s OTA practice.
Swinney’s coaching record at Clemson speaks for itself. In 18 seasons he has gone 187-53, won two national championships, made four College Football Playoff National Championship appearances, and built one of the most consistently dominant programs in college football history.
For Watson, the timing of this visit is meaningful. The 30-year-old quarterback is working his way back from two torn Achilles tendons and is in the middle of one of the most remarkable comeback stories in recent NFL memory. Having the coach who helped shape him into a first-round pick and a national champion show up in person to watch him work sends a signal about the belief the people closest to Watson have in what he is trying to accomplish.
Watson spent four years at Clemson before the Houston Texans selected him 12th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. He threw for 4,823 yards with 33 touchdowns in his final college season under Swinney and entered the league as one of the most hyped quarterback prospects in years. The road since then has been filled with obstacles that nobody could have predicted.
NEXT:
Quinshon Judkins Is Turning Heads At OTAs