Top 10 Running Back in 2027 Class Picks Florida Over Clemson

Another head-to-head recruiting fight between Clemson and Florida has officially gone the Gators’ way.

After leading for a majority of the spring period, a four-star RB prospect ultimately decided to choose Florida over Clemson. | Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Clemson has recently been in multiple recruiting battles with the Florida Gators, and they continue to get the short end of the stick, as another target of the Tigers has chosen to head to Gainesville, Florida.

On Friday afternoon, running back Andrew Beard announced that he'd be taking his talents to the SEC, choosing Florida and head coach Jon Sumrall over Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee, as first reported by [whoever]. 

He becomes the fifth Clemson target of the 2027 class to choose the Gators, joining offensive linemen Maxwell Hiller, Peyton Miller and Elijah Hutcheson in addition to tight end Tommy Douglas.

BREAKING: Four-Star RB Andrew Beard has Committed to Florida, he tells me for @Rivals

The 5’10 195 RB from Bogart, GA chose the Gators over Clemson, Georgia, and Tennessee

“Gator boys stay hot🐊”https://t.co/hSXppIqtPs pic.twitter.com/sABCQphzA2

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 8, 2026

The 5-foot-10 running back is rated a four-star prospect and ranks as the No. 154 overall prospect, the No. 9 player at his position and the No. 15 recruit in the state of Georgia, according to 247Sports Composite. 

Leading up to Beard's decision, Clemson controlled most of his attention throughout the spring, hosting him twice in March. Once he announced his commitment date last week, the race was about 50/50 between the Tigers and Gators, with both programs receiving crystal ball predictions from 247Sports Insiders.

Unfortunately, though, Clemson started to lose its footing on the final days of the race. Two days before his commitment, On3's Steve Wiltfong, Corey Bender and Blake Alderman (Florida Insider) recorded expert predictions for the Gators to land Beard, ultimately ending up proving true.

The primary reason that Beard chose the SEC program over the Tigers is his prior connections to offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner at Georgia Tech and running backs coach Chris Foster at Duke. He's also grown fond of Sumrall throughout his visits, as he feels his past success will translate into what he hopes to do at Florida, according to On3's Alderman.

The loss hurts even more when you look at what Beard brings to the table. Over the past two seasons, the 198-pound backfield threat compiled 450 offensive touches for 4,204 scrimmage yards and 44 touchdowns.

However, while running backs coach C.J. Spiller came up short on Beard, there's reason for optimism elsewhere in the 2027 class. 

Clemson appears to be in a strong position to land the seventh-best running back in the country, Gary Walker, who has received multiple crystal ball predictions to land with the Tigers in recent months — a trend that has only picked up steam as of late.

The 6-foot, 200-pound running back combines the perfect mixture of burst and vision out of the backfield for national powerhouse Creekside High School. In his junior campaign last year, he ran for a whopping 1,669 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on only 178 carries, averaging nearly a first down per touch, while helping lead the Seminoles to a state championship victory that was the program's first since 2013.

He plans to begin his official visits with a trip to Stanford on May 22 before returning to Clemson on May 29, followed by stops at Virginia Tech (June 5), Penn State (June 12) and Florida State (June 19).