Clemson Tigers Offer Four-Star Edge Rusher From 2027 Class

Although Wednesday is National Signing Day, head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers are looking to the next recruiting class, making an offer the same day to a standout prospect.

Edge rusher Desmond Malpress announced that he received an offer from the Tigers on Wednesday morning. The Jacksonville, Florida, native is making waves in the Sunshine State for Atlantic Coast High School and is seeing plenty of buzz from schools within the Southeast.

Blessed to be offered by The University of Clemson @CS904_ @ACHSRecruiting @TomLoy247 @ChadSimmons_ @JohnGarcia_Jr pic.twitter.com/C7kDFe2z4B
— Desmond Malpress 4⭐️edge (@babymalpress) February 4, 2026

Malpress is a four-star recruit in the class of 2027, being the No. 9-ranked edge rusher in the class and the No. 9-player from the state of Florida currently, according to Rivals. He is a top 85 player in the class.

The 6-foot-3.5, 205-pound standout recorded 7.5 sacks in 2025, according to MaxPreps. His length and quickness will allow him to be successful for any program he decides to join, and Clemson looks to be that school.

However, it will be difficult to get other schools to stay away from him, especially those in-state. Florida has received a lot of momentum for Malpress, while teams like South Carolina, Florida State and Miami are all in the running as well. He was also offered by Georgia, Tennessee and Louisville so far.

Clemson does not currently have a defensive end in its class of 2027 commits as of Feb. 4. Three defenders are currently slated to join the program in 2027, including Max Brown (brother of Sammy Brown), Harrison Luke and Christian Chancellor Jr.

Looking into the future, the defensive end will be a position of need, barring other recruits or transfers. Will Heldt, new transfer C.J. Wesley and Jahiem Lawson would be expected to be out of eligibility, meaning that Malpress signing could have him rise up the depth chart early.

Others in the room currently include Colorado transfer London Merritt, Ari Watford and Darien Mayo. JR Hardrick and Michael Foster were the two that Swinney added to his 2026 recruiting class.

It will be a tough task to keep other SEC and ACC teams out of the running for the Florida standout, but defensive ends coach Chris Rumph will look to show his success of past edge rushers to lure him to the Upstate.

Clemson Tigers on SI will remain updated with Malpress’s status over the course of the next few weeks. Narrowing down his schools could be in the cards as the offseason continues.