Dabo Swinney Confirms Clemson Tigers DE Ari Watford Has Been Cleared for Practice

On Monday’s edition of Tiger Hour, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney announced that true freshman Ari Watford has been cleared to return to practice this week and has gotten reps with the scout team.

Watford suffered an ACL tear during his senior high school season, sidelining him before even arriving at Clemson. However, there were still good signs throughout his recovery, as he was reportedly doing well during the offseason and started preseason camp in a limited capacity as he continued his rehabilitation.

Before the injury, Watford built a reputation as one of the nation’s top defensive prospects. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as a top-20 edge rusher in the country, according to 247Sports Composite.

The 6-foot-5 defensive end started his high school career at Salem, totaling 10 tackles and five sacks in two games before suffering a season-ending injury.

By the following year, he returned, looking healthier and more dominant than ever. He totaled 12 sacks en route to a MaxPreps Sophomore All-American second-team selection and Under Armour All-American game appearance.

Heading into his junior year, he would transfer to Maury High School, one of the football powerhouses in Virginia.

From a team and individual perspective, Watford would have his best season, recording 69 tackles, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries while helping lead his squad to a 15-0 record and a Virginia Class 5A Championship.

While he couldn’t finish his senior season due to his ACL injury, Maury stayed consistent, finishing 16-0 and winning back-to-back State Championships for the first time in program history. They finished as the No. 44 high school team in the country, according to MaxPreps.

Through four years on varsity, Watford was a four-time unanimous all-district selection, three-time unanimous all-region honoree and a three-time unanimous all-state selection from 2022 to 2024.

Over this past offseason, Swinney made sure to address Watford’s absence by adding depth through the transfer portal, most notably landing Purdue transfer Will Heldt, who’s already made an impact up front to start the 2025 season.

“We had a young man decide to back out and go somewhere else (Isaiah Campbell of Tennessee), and there wasn’t anybody left to recruit that could fill the need that we needed, so now we have a gap and we have to go to the portal, and we needed a high-level guy,” Swinney expressed in January. “We got the guy that I wanted to get. So that was that situation, you know, Ari Watford tore his ACL, we had a kid back out, so we needed to go get a guy, and we did.”

With Heldt solidifying the rotation, Watford’s return now gives the Tigers even more upside on the edge in the future. If he can stay healthy and regain the burst that made him one of the nation’s top recruits, Watford has the potential to grow into a difference-maker and complement Clemson’s defensive front for years to come.