Clemson fails to make Top 4 for David Sanders, Tigers’ No. 1 target in 2025 class

Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program have missed out on their top recruiting target in the 2025 class.

After seemingly being the favorites to land him, 5-star offensive line target David Sanders (Providence Day) announced his Top 4 schools, with Clemson not making the cut. A shock for many Tigers fans, Sanders will be picking between Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State and Nebraska.

There’s no other way of putting this, it’s a huge failure for the Tigers to not even land in Sanders Top 4 after how strong of a position they were in for the No. 2 recruit in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports. Sanders was the clear No. 1 target on Clemson’s board as the first recruit in the cycle to pick up a scholarship offer.

What changed for Sanders? While I don’t know for sure, my educated guess would be NIL. It’s safe to assume more money and opportunities for money are coming from all four of those schools. Even if Nebraska surprises you, it’s likely they have a better NIL deal for the highly touted offensive lineman.

Regardless of why, this is a massive loss in recruiting for the Tigers and one that draws concern.