Clemson football has long been able to dictate its own destiny when it comes to recruiting. That notion, however, has taken a recent hit.
On Monday, the Tigers missed on two high-profile targets in the 2025 class, including one who had been predicted to pick Clemson in recent months. Four-star wide receiver Cortez Mills, rated as high as the number 69 overall recruit in the class, and offensive lineman Hardy Watts, the number 178th overall prospect, both made their pledges elsewhere.
It is not often that Clemson football and head coach Dabo Swinney miss on key prospects who they have zeroed in on, but after a brilliant start to the 2025 recruiting cycle, the Tigers have now come up empty four times in the past two weeks. It seems to be a worrying trend. Can Clemson football continue to sell itself on past success? Or has NIL won out and Swinney’s program is unable to offer the same deals as other programs?
Mills had been seen as a Clemson lean in recent weeks, so the Homestead, FL recruit’s decision to commit to Oklahoma and former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables was a bit of a surprise.
Watts, from Brookline, Massachusetts, chose Wisconsin over Clemson and Michigan. Watts became the third offensive lineman considering Clemson to commit elsewhere in since the start of June which is not good news considering Swinney and the Tigers plan to take two more lineman in this cycle.
The nation’s number two overall recruit, David Sanders Jr., is an offensive tackle from the Charlotte, NC area that has been projected to Clemson for a long time, and there are rumblings by recruiting services that he may also be starting to lean elsewhere despite publicly stating he grew up a fan of the Tigers.
Clemson could still get good news on the recruiting front this week as another wide receiver target, Samari Reed from Pompano Beach, Florida, is set to make his pledge on Wednesday July 3rd. Reed is a consensus four-star recruit rated as high as 149th overall on Rivals. He will choose between a group of finalists that include Clemson, Penn State, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ole Miss.
