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Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking Down the 2026 Signees – Defense, Special Teams

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The 2026 Rice Football Recruiting class includes several hand-picked impact players on defense and special teams. Here’s how those sides of the ball stacks up.

The 2026 Rice football recruiting class began with 18 signees during the Early Signing Period, the second recruiting haul for new head coach Scott Abell. Of those players, 16 are current high school seniors, eight play on the offensive side of the ball, plus one specialist.

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“I think we have found some great future Owls who are going to have an impact on our program,” Abell said during his introductory remarks regarding the group.

We’ve gone position by position breaking down each of those new people, dissecting how these Owls will help the program on the field.

* Denotes players who will enroll early in January

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** This piece has been updated to reflect new signees as of 2/5/2025 **
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Rice Football Recruiting: EDGE Seth Clarke commits to Owls

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The 2026 Rice Football recruiting class keeps adding playmakers in the trenches. Edge Seth Clarke from The Hun School (NJ) has committed to the Owls.

Members of the 2026 Rice football recruiting class span from near and far, a mix of local talent from the state of Texas and the right pieces from across the country. The Owls’ last three commitments have come from outside those Lone Star lines, including the addition of this explosive pass rusher from New Jersey. Seth Clarke from The Hun School has committed to the Owls.

Clarke was a coveted player with 29 offers and counting. At the time he made his pledge to Rice football, those offers included a host of power conference programs like North Carolina, Pitt, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Rutgers, Boston College and Duke. AAC rivals like Tulane and South Florida had thrown their hats in the ring, too.

Still, Clarke chose Rice, adding to an impressive haul in the trenches, which began with interior player Quincy Tchikou and was fortified last week with the commitment of edge JD Singletary. This brings the 2026 class to 12 players as the summer camp season winds down.

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The 6-foot-2, 237-pound Clarke is a tenacious, powerful defender who overwhelms his opponents on film. He has the athleticism and bend to adjust his path into the backfield accordingly and make an impact at the point of attack. When it comes to a prep player, Clarke boasts a fantastic base of traits to build on as he refines his craft at the collegiate level.

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