Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers have received even more bad news on the recruiting trail.
There was a time when the Clemson Tigers were a national power on the recruiting trail, but that now feels like eons ago.
Over the past several years, Dabo Swinney has had difficulty bringing elite talent to Clemson, and it was reflected in the team's 7-6 record in 2025. That marked the Tigers' worst finish since going 6-7 in Swinney's second full season at the helm in 2010.
The hits just keep on coming for Clemson, which has lost out on a handful of top recruits this offseason, and now, it appears the Tigers are getting the short end of the stick yet again.
Jason Priester of The Clemson Insider has reported that five-star 2027 linebacker Kaden Henderson will not be visiting Clemson for its Elite Retreat on March 7 as originally planned. Instead, he will be down in Florida visiting the Gators.
Henderson paid a visit to Clemson for its season opener against LSU last season and has not been back since.
Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney. Credit: MCKENZIE LANGE/ Staff / USA TODAY NETWORK.The top-ranked linebacker in the class has nine visits scheduled from now through mid-April, all of them coming with powerhouse schools. So it's looking more and more like the Tigers are no longer even being considered by Henderson.
Clemson has had especially hard luck finding linebackers for the 2027 class.
The Tigers have six offers out to linebackers right now and watched former target Quinton Cypher commit to Ohio State. Noah Glover also left Clemson off his list of finalists, and Cooper Witten seems bound for Oklahoma after his father, NFL legend Jason Witten, took a job with the Sooners.
Such has been the case for the Tigers in recent years. Swinney has had an exceedingly difficult time adjusting to the new NIL era, both in terms of the transfer portal and the recruiting trail.
Swinney's methods in both areas are largely obsolete, although he did manage to bag 10 transfer additions — double the amount Swinney had between 2022 and 2025 as a whole — this winter.
But can Swinney rediscover his groove on the recruiting circuit? It remains to be see, but it has certainly been tough sledding for Clemson.
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