Before the ball was ever snapped in Clemson’s spring game, Tristan Smith was already feeling the weight of the moment.
His first time running down the hill. His first time in front of a packed crowd at Memorial Stadium. His mom in the stands. His nerves? Off the charts.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous,” Smith said, a grin creeping across his face after the game. “There were a lot of people out there. But once I got that first catch, it was like, alright, let’s go.”
By the end of the afternoon, everyone in Death Valley knew his name.
The 6-foot-5 transfer wide receiver delivered the highlight of the day with a 72-yard touchdown that left fans roaring and defenders chasing shadows. It was a moment that seemed to come out of nowhere, at least to Smith.
“I really thought I was just going to catch the ball and get tackled,” he laughed. “Then the guy missed and I’m like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m gone.’ I was tired as hell by the end of it, but man, that was special.”
Smith’s route to Clemson didn’t follow the traditional script. After deciding to enter the transfer portal, he was looking for a place where he could play at the highest level and truly feel at home. One visit to Clemson made it clear he’d found both.
“Coach Grisham hit me up and brought me in for a visit. I committed right in Coach Swinney’s office,” Smith said. “No hesitation. I knew this is where I wanted to be. Everyone, from the coaches to the hotel staff, made me feel like family. That Southern hospitality is real.”
Since his arrival, Smith has been soaking it all in. Learning the playbook, building chemistry with his quarterbacks, and earning his spot in a wide receiver room he calls “Three Waves of Terror.” It’s a group so deep that Smith says there’s no drop-off from the first team to the third.
“Antonio, Wesco, TJ Moore, Chase, they’re all dogs,” Smith said. “It’s Clemson vs. Clemson every day in practice. You see one guy make a big play, and it makes you want to go out and top it. That’s the energy in that room.”
But Smith isn’t just another name on the depth chart. His size and physicality make him a nightmare matchup for corners. He doesn’t claim to be the fastest guy on the field, but when the ball’s in the air, it’s his.
“I like to use my body, go up and get it,” he said. “Sometimes it feels like every ball has a little bit of PI on it, but that’s no excuse. I’m 6’5. I’ve got to make the play.”
That mindset is exactly what impressed the Clemson staff during his recruitment, and what’s already starting to show up on the field.
He’s still adjusting to the South Carolina heat and the tempo of big-time college football, but Smith says that playing in front of a packed stadium, even for a spring game, gave him the kind of confidence you can’t get in practice.
“When Coach Swinney says treat every practice like the LSU game, he means it,” Smith said. “We’d already had scrimmages in the stadium, so it didn’t feel totally new. But once the fans are there, the lights are on, your mom’s watching, it hits different.”
There’s still a long way to go until the Tigers kick off the season for real, but Smith’s already looking like a key piece in an offense filled with rising stars. And if his spring game performance is any indication, this new chapter in Clemson’s WRU story might just be getting started.
“This is the highest level of the game,” he said. “To go from watching Clemson on TV to being a part of it, man, it’s a dream. I don’t want to be anywhere else. I came here to be great. And we’re going to be great.”
