Former Clemson player explains why he transferred to Colorado, Deion Sanders

Zack Owens wants to help build a football program from the ground up.

And he didn’t see a chance to do that at Clemson.

That’s the long and short of why Owens, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman and former four-star recruit, opted to enter the transfer portal after one season with the Tigers and commit to Colorado and Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders heading into 2024.

Owens, 19, appeared in two games and played 13 snaps while redshirting during his 2023 true freshman season at Clemson. He entered the transfer portal on April 22, about two weeks after the Tigers wrapped spring practice, and committed to Colorado and Sanders six days later.

The towering offensive lineman from Georgia — who was among the tallest and heaviest players on Clemson’s roster last year at 6-foot-6 and 375 pounds — shed further light on his transfer decision during an appearance on the DNVR Buffs Podcast earlier this summer.

“My biggest thing was at Clemson — great school, great program, I love all the coaches and everybody there — but they already had their foundation set,” Owens said on a May 29 podcast appearance. “Everybody knows the Trevor Lawrences, Deshaun Watsons, Travis Etiennes. They already had their foundation. They already made their history there.”

Owens said he wanted to instead be part of a college football program where he’s “one of the guys they remember. Like, ‘Offensive lineman Zechariah Owens, No. 72, he was this and that, he helped this program so much.’ Because at Clemson that’s all they talked about: What they did in the past and how that helped us build up.”

“Which is something I’ll always respect,” Owens said. “But I want to be a part of building a program up to the point where we can make history and change the culture from here on out.”

During an hour-long conversation alongside two Colorado teammates on the DNVR Buffs Podcast, Owens also revealed that not everyone in his family was on board with him committing to Clemson out of Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Georgia.

“It wasn’t just if I liked it,” Owens said of Colorado. “My biggest thing was I wanted to make the right decision this time, that all my whole entire family agrees with.”

Owens, a four-star Class of 2023 recruit and the No. 264 player in his class per 247Sports, originally committed to Clemson in July 2022 over finalists Alabama and Penn State.

In October 2022, though, Owens announced he’d decommitted from the school because his family was in the process of moving and he wanted to consider schools closer to their new location. He emphasized he had “nothing against Clemson at all.”

That weekend, he took an official visit to Florida State to watch the Seminoles host the Tigers on Oct 15. Three days after he visited Tallahassee, Owens said that after a “long time of thinking, praying and reconsidering” he and his family decided he would recommit to Clemson.

Owens signed his national letter of intent with Clemson that December and enrolled in January 2023. Slowed by a lingering injury from his senior year of high school, he failed to break into the team’s offensive line rotation and played 13 snaps across two games at tackle while redshirting.

Swinney addressed Owens’ departure earlier this summer at ACC spring meetings. Owens was one of two scholarship players to transfer from Clemson during the spring portal window along with true freshman defensive end Adam Kissayi, who landed at Minnesota. (Kissayi had once been committed there.)

“Two young guys that weren’t gonna play this year, but had they stuck with it, I think they could have turned into good players,” Swinney told The Clemson Insider in May. “That’s why we signed them. But not everybody wants to be patient, or whatever it is. Fit, whatever. And because opportunity has been created, where we’ve kind of made it very easy to move on, you see a lot of movement in college football.”

Owens’ commitment to Colorado marked the second straight cycle the Buffaloes landed a former Clemson player. Former Tigers linebacker LaVonta Bentley transferred to CU after the 2022 season and is entering his second season in Boulder as a key defender.

Owens, listed as an offensive guard on Colorado’s 2024 roster, said he’s excited about the program’s potential in Year 2 under Sanders, the NFL Hall of Fame cornerback.

The Buffaloes return star quarterback Shedeur Sanders (Deion’s son) and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter from a 2023 team that started 3-0 but went just 1-8 the rest of the season and missed a bowl game.

“I know at Jackson State, Coach Sanders’ first year was a little rough, but then they won the division, the league,” Owens said. “I could see that happening here this year.”