Transfer Portal: Notre Dame lands Michigan transfer CB Jayden Sanders

Michigan transfer cornerback Jayden Sanders has signed with the Notre Dame football program after one season in Ann Arbor.

Since the NCAA Transfer Portal opened on Jan. 2, most of Notre Dame’s targets were covered by the local and national media, but there’s one that flew under the radar — and it’s Sanders.

No visits were reported. Some speculation here and there but nothing seriously leaked until Monday morning. Notre Dame worked quietly behind the scenes to land Sanders and got it done.

News broke on Jan. 8 that Sanders would be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal. He ranks as the No. 92 overall player and No. 10 cornerback according to the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Rankings.

Sanders had a strong true freshman season for the Wolverines and played in all 13 games for former coach Sherrone Moore, who was fired in December following an off-field scandal.

The 6-1, 193-pounder recorded 23 tackles and 1 pass breakup on the season and shared Michigan defensive player of the week honors for his outing against Nebraska. He notched eight tackles and a pass breakup in the game. He contributed on special teams as well.

Sanders posted the eighth-highest overall defensive grade (74.1) by PFF in the fall. He played 303 snaps, third-most among Michigan cornerbacks — 273 aligned outside and 11 in the slot.

When speaking with the Michigan media in the fall, Sanders was asked which NFL cornerbacks he modeled his game after the most. His answer was Sauce Gardner, who Irish cornerback Mike Mickens developed at Cincinnati.

“He’s pretty long, and I feel like I’m a long guy myself,” Sanders said. “I’m just trying to put myself in his shoes and do some things that he does — put it in my own world.”

An academic all-district student-athlete, Sanders also participated in track and field and basketball during his prep career. He specialized in long sprints and the high jump on the track and was the 2024 Texas District 17-4A Defensive Player of the Year on the basketball court.

As a senior in 2024 at Kilgore (Texas) High, he caught 49 passes for 798 yards with 9 touchdowns. On defense, he posted 27 tackles, 15 pass breakups and 3 interceptions.

“He means a lot to us. He’s a tremendous young man with very high character,” Kilgore head coach Clint Fuller previously told On3. “He’s a great leader for our team. He makes a big impact with his character, his work ethic and his leadership. We have pretty high standards in our program. He definitely meets those standards. He pushes everyone around him to meet those standards.”

As a high school prospect, he was the No. 176 overall player and the No. 27 cornerback nationally according to the 2025 Rivals Industry Ranking.

“Jayden is a smooth corner,” Rivals director of scouting and rankings Charles Power previously said. “I think he has good size, good ball skills. He’s a two-way player, productive in coverage. I think the ball skills transfer over really well to corner. You see him make some fantastic catches and interceptions as a junior. He’s younger for the class. I think he’s a guy whose best football is certainly ahead of him.”

His father, Nick Sanders, was a first-team All-Mountain West defensive back at TCU (2005-09).