Veteran Virginia Defensive Back Officially Declares For the NFL Draft

Antonio Clary saw the rebuild of Virginia over the past few years but is now off to the NFL Draft

Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers safety Antonio Clary (0) celebrates after intercepting a pass near the end of the fourth quarter at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Virginia wrapped up their season on Saturday with a Gator Bowl win over Missouri, ending the year with 11 wins and capping one of the most successful seasons in program history. It had been a building process for UVA under Tony Elliott to get to this point, but they reaped the rewards against the Tigers.

One of the players that has been around for the entire rebuild under Elliott has been safety Antonio Clary. Clary has been a playmaker for what had been a struggling unit in the first three seasons under Elliott, but they took a big leap in 2025, becoming one of the best defenses in the ACC. Now that his eligibility is up, it is time for Clary to move on to the next level and he announced on social media this afternoon that he would be entering the NFL Draft.

UVA safety Antonio Clary says goodbye and declares for the NFL Draft pic.twitter.com/ynyICTqdeO

— Jacquie Franciulli (@JacquieFran_) December 30, 2025

Clary arrived in Charlottesville in 2019 and during his seven seasons with the program, he totaled over 200 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 4 interceptions, and 7 pass deflections. He was one of the leaders of the program and his locker rooom presence is going to be missed.

From his bio at Virginiasports.com:

"2025 – Tallied a season-high five tackles against Duke (12/6) in the ACC Championship game ... Recorded his fourth career interception in the fourth quarter of UVA’s 27-7 win over Virginia Tech (11/27) … The win over the Hokies was also the second of his career (also in 2019) … Logged his third career interception on North Carolina’s final drive of regulation in UVA’s 17-16 overtime win in Chapel Hill … Made his season debut in UVA’s 48-20 ACC-opening win over Stanford (9/20). 2024 – Started in five of the six games he appeared in … Missed six games, including the last three, due to injury … Averaged 10.3 tackles per game prior to suffering injury against Boston College (10/5) … His 10.3 tackles-per-game average was good for second in the ACC and 11th among all FBS players … Led or co-led the team in tackles in each of UVA’s first four games … Tallied seven tackles against Boston College (10/5) including four solo tackles … Recorded his second career interception in 43-24 win at Coastal Carolina (9/21) … Set a career-high with 14 tackles, including one for loss to go along with two pass breakups against Maryland (9/14) … Led the team in tackles (11) for the second consecutive week in win at Wake Forest (9/7) … Recovered a fumble on the Demon Deacons penultimate drive … Tied for a game-high eight tackles in season-opening win over Richmond (8/31). 2023 – Missed entire season due to injury. 2022 – Started seven of the eight games in which he appeared, including starts in each of the last six games … Finished fourth on the team in tackles (56) and third on team in solo tackles (31) … His 7.0 tackles per game ranked 18th highest in the ACC … Made eight tackles and recorded his first career interception on Oct. 8 against Louisville. The 26-yard return on the interception was the longest by a Cavalier in 2022 … Served as game captain at Illinois (Sept. 10) where he recorded a pass break up and forced a fumble … Led the UVA defense with a career-high 13 tackles (5 solo) against Pitt on Nov. 12. … Recorded his first career solo sack as part of an six-tackle effort against Miami (10/29). 2021 – Appeared in 12 of UVA’s games with three starts… Tied for sixth on the team with 42 total tackles on the year … Recovered a fumble against Duke … Made seven tackles against Illinois and Louisville. 2020 – Appeared in nine of UVA’s 10 games with three starts … Recorded a tackle against NC State (10/10) … Totaled four tackles, including 0.5 for loss and broke up a pass at Wake Forest (10/17) … Made his first collegiate start at No. 11 Miami (10/24), where he finished with seven tackles and 0.5 sacks … Notched two tackles, including one for loss in win over No. 15 North Carolina (10/31) … Made seven stops and recovered a fumble against Louisville (11/14) … Recorded three tackles against Abilene Christian (11/21). 2019 – Appeared in five games before suffering a season-ending injury at Louisville (10/26) … Made his collegiate debut against Old Dominion (9/21) … Recorded four tackles against Duke (10/19) … One of 17 UVA true freshmen to appear on the season."