Former 4-star Clemson defensive end signee enters transfer portal
A Clemson defensive end is on the move.
Tigers DE A.J. Hoffler is entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining, he confirmed to The State on Thursday.
The news was first reported by On3 Sports.
Hoffler appeared in all 14 games for Clemson this season and had 13 total tackles, 1.5 tackles and three quarterback pressures across 245 snaps (17.5 snaps per game). He played 74 snaps across seven games last year as a true freshman.
Hoffler is the team’s fourth portal entry and second defensive portal entry.
He’d initially signed with Clemson as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022 and ranked as the No. 312 overall recruit in the class. Hoffler (6-4, 255 pounds) is a Florida native who played his high school ball in Georgia.
He proved valuable enough as a freshman to appear in seven games (as opposed to appearing in up to four games and redshirting). But Hoffler never started a game during his Tigers career and operated purely as a rotational defensive end.
After playing 20-plus snaps in three straight games against Pitt, The Citadel and South Carolina, Hoffler had just 12 snaps in the ACC championship game vs. SMU and seven in the Tigers’ first-round CFP loss at Texas on Saturday.
Clemson struggled to find consistency at defensive end this season behind sophomore star T.J. Parker, as a rotating cast of teammates mixed in on the other side of him. The Tigers signed former Purdue defensive end Will Heldt out of the transfer portal and are also bringing in four-star 2025 recruit Ari Watford.
Hoffler’s departure drops Clemson to seven scholarship defensive ends for 2025 and could prompt the team to examine more portal options at that spot.
Clemson football 2024 transfers
- WR Troy Stellato, Dec. 3
- DB Sherrod Covil Jr., Dec. 6 (Virginia Tech)
- WR Noble Johnson, Dec. 9 (Arizona State)
- DE A.J. Hoffler, Dec. 26
This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 3:12 PM.
