CHARLOTTE — Hunter Renfrow may be 29 years old, a Pro Bowler, and a six-year veteran in the NFL, but that doesn't stop Dabo Swinney from coaching him.

"Oh yeah, I've been coaching Hunter a long time, so that's just kind of that," laughed Swinney, the Clemson head coach on hand for the Carolina Panthers' Monday training camp practice.

Renfrow, the former Clemson receiver who won two national championships with the Tigers, had just finished the one-on-one portion of practice, during which he dominated his reps, yet again. The last ball of the drill was another catch for Renfrow, although he drew a flag for a push-off. So when he jogged over to talk to his former coach during the water break, Swinney couldn't help but give him a little coaching.

"We were just talking about some of those one-on-ones, talking about some releases and a couple of little technical aspects," Swinney added.

Added a laughing Renfrow, "Coach Swinney has all the answers."

It was the kind of ribbing Swinney has been giving Renfrow his entire life—literally his entire life—regardless the amount of time Renfrow has spent in the league.

"Hunter's more than just a kid I coach," Swinney said. "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."

The relationship with Swinney helped keep Renfrow motivated over the past year, as he was struggling with ulcerative colitis and considering stepping away from football altogether, as opposed to the one year he ended up sitting out.

"He really didn't know how to deal with what he was dealing with," Swinney shared. "And you know, a lot of times football people are our worst enemy, and you just try to, 'Well, I'll just push through it, right?'

"And it just affected him and, but he really was done…and he took this last year and he really got healthy and just got back to work because I think he was wise and not making a final decision until he could get himself in a better state of mind like health wise where he could really feel like he could be confident in making decisions, because he had teams trying to sign him last year.

"And he just said no, I'm just, I'm not going to do it."

Over the past year, though, as Renfrow improved, became healthier, and learned how to manage his illness, he also spent a lot of time back around Clemson. Swinney watched the guy he'd known for decades and realized that being on the edge of a football program lit a fire in Renfrow again.

"He just kind of started to feel a little better and, obviously, he loves this part of the country."

One day, Renfrow told his coach, "Well, I'm just going to play for the Panthers."

Swinney laughed. "Well, I don't know that it's going to work like that, Hunter, you don't just get to do that," he told him.

But on Monday, Swinney was laughing again, this time in acquiescence.

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

And it's continuing to work out for Renfrow and the Panthers. After a year off, it took only OTAs and minicamp for Renfrow to get a feel for the game again. By the time training camp began, Renfrow was back to putting defensive backs in a blender, in those one-on-ones, in team drills, and more. No one knows better than Swinney what a receiver like that can do for a team.

"He gets open and he catches it," Swinney laughed, explaining in simple terms the massive impact he's seen Renfrow have on offenses. "He makes plays, he understands the leverage and influence and route running and break points and how to set things up and how to play with his hands at full speed.

"And you know he's just got elite change of direction. I mean, he plays long. He's not a very big guy, but he plays like a 6-3 guy, and having coached receivers my entire life, I've been around a lot of 6-3 guys that play 5-9, but he's a little guy that plays really big and just really, he's crafty and just his ability to separate and change direction, it's hard to find that.

"He can do a lot of things to help a football team, and that's all I think he's looking for is just having a chance to get back on and help the team somehow, some way."