He waited to make it official, but TJ Sanders signing with USC ‘the right choice’
With a head coaching change and a new staff, T.J. Sanders wanted to make 100% sure that South Carolina was the place he wanted to play college football.
He committed to Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks on July 4, but Muschamp was fired before the 2020 season ended. So Sanders took the last month to weigh his options.
In the end, the massive Marion High defensive tackle stuck with USC and made it official Wednesday in a ceremony at his school on the first day of the late signing period.
“I have been waiting for this day since I committed. I always felt South Carolina was home and where I was meant to be,” Sanders said. “I knew once Coach Muschamp was fired a lot of new changes were going to be made up there, so I wanted to wait and see if those are the changes I would like.
“But I felt USC was the best bet for me, playing in the SEC and it being close to home. It is the right choice.”
Sanders was the last of Muschamp’s USC commitments who hadn’t signed yet — the others who stuck with the Gamecocks through the transition signed in December. He said Florida, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss reached out to him recently, but things never got to the point where he would back off his USC pledge.
Sanders has talked with new coach Shane Beamer, defensive coordinator Clayton White and defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey in the past few weeks and likes the direction the program is headed.
Marion defensive coordinator Leo Phillips thinks USC will play the 6-foot-4, 285-pound Sanders at the defensive tackle spot in White’s 4-2-5 scheme. Sanders played mostly defensive end at Marion but played some at tackle, including against Andrews as the Swamp Foxes shut down the Yellow Jackets running game in the second half.
“He is very raw and still learning the game but he has a talent you can’t teach. He is a high IQ guy,” Phillips said. “He has a motor that can’t quit, so that is going to carry him a long way.”
Sanders grew up playing basketball and football, with basketball being his top choice. He still plays basketball in high school and was getting a few shots up in the gym Wednesday before his signing ceremony.
Sanders’ mom, Leticia Williams, thought football was her son’s best sport, but he stopped playing in middle school before picking it up again ahead of his junior season. Marion coach Randall State told the story Wednesday about how he convinced Sanders to give football another chance.
It proved to be the right move as Sanders became a dominant force on the Swamp Foxes’ defensive live. This year, he finished the season with 62 tackles, seven sacks and 19 tackles for loss in helping Marion to the Class 2A championship game.
“After football season last year, he became a man because he took the weight room more seriously and realized football was his ticket out of here,” Phillips said. “He shaped up and cut down some of the fat. The good Lord has blessed him with size, so he is still growing and plans on being a dominant force.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 2:23 PM with the headline "He waited to make it official, but TJ Sanders signing with USC ‘the right choice’."
