Clemson football scored a major recruiting victory Wednesday when four-star defensive end Ari Watford, one of the top edge rushers in the class of 2025, committed to the Tigers.
Watford (Maury High School, Norfolk, Va.) chose Clemson over Ohio State, Penn State, in-state rival South Carolina, and ACC rivals Virginia Tech and Syracuse.
Listed at 6’6, 220 pounds, Watford is rated the No. 30 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite recruiting rankings for the 2025 class.
He is also rated the top overall recruiting prospect in the state of Virginia, as well as the fourth-best edge rusher in the nation. Watford becomes the fourth prospect from Virginia in the class of 2025 to commit to Clemson.
Clemson had been wooing Watford for several months. He officially received an offer from the school back in June and attended the annual Dabo Swinney Football Camp over the summer.
The recruitment of Watford is a big haul for Swinney and especially new defensive ends coach Chris Rumph. Rumph replaced Lemanski Hall, who was let go as defensive ends coach at the end of last season.