Dabo Swinney heaps heavy praise on New Orleans Saints No. 1 pick Bryan Bresee

Clemson defensive lineman Bryan Bresee was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. This capped off a difficult and turbulent final year at Clemson for the Tigers’ star.

Following the pick, Bresee’s college coach, Dabo Swinney, heaped praise on him, explaining exactly what Bresee is going to bring to the Saints.

“Bryan is a guy that could be a Pro Bowler for years to come,” Dabo Swinney said. “He has that in him. And I’m just excited for the Saints because his best football is in front of him. He’s really gotten himself healthy, but this kid has been through so much.”

Throughout his time at Clemson, Bryan Bresee showed his potential. However, he was often affected by injuries, like a torn ACL and kidney infection. That, and the death of his younger sister, cost him time and made it difficult to live up to his potential on the field.

“He had a great freshman year, missed his second year, got hurt, tore his ACL, and then he comes back and obviously his sister passing, he missed a lot of time and then he had a kidney issue. When this guy is on the field, everybody in the stadium notices. I mean, that’s just who he is, and he’s been that way at every level of football of his life from pee wee to middle school to high school to college,” Swinney said.

“It won’t be any different in the pros; when he’s on the field, everybody will notice him. And the good news for him is, again, he is a high-value, first-round type talent that was available just based on where he is in his development.”

Ultimately, Dabo Swinney thinks that Bryan Bresee has a great future in the sport. He just needs to stay healthy.

“This guy is the ultimate gym rat. He absolutely loves football. He’s passionate about practice, he’s strong and he’s just a guy that I think his teammates are going to love. He’s got a great spirit to him every single day. I think if he can stay healthy, he’s got a great future in front of him as a pro football player.”

Bryan Bresee’s position coach Nick Eason added to that, saying, “What they’re getting in Bryan is a great young man who comes from a great family, who is very competitive, very tough, very disciplined. He’s very smart and he loves the game. He exemplified all of that throughout my time at Clemson and before and that’s why he’s going to be one of the NFL’s greats for years to come. They have not seen the best of Bryan Bresee yet.”

Bryan Bresee on when his NFL dream became realistic

Ahead of the NFL Draft, Bryan Bresee spoke about his NFL dream.

“My mom popped up a video of me when I was in first or second grade for a school project saying I was going to play in the NFL. So it’s always been a goal of mine,” Bresee said.

“I started playing football when I was five years old. My dad played college football and got me into the sport early on. It was a goal of mine [to make the NFL] from right when I started playing.”