Tristan Smith takes a gamble on himself, sees it pay off with FaceTime from Swinney

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Tristan Smith decided to gamble on himself, and a FaceTime call from Dabo Swinney let him know the gamble might pay off.

Smith, a 6-5, 205-pound wide receiver transfer from Southeast Missouri visited Clemson on Monday and committed to the Tigers Monday afternoon after a meeting with Swinney in the head coach’s office.

Smith’s last game with the Redhawks was memorable - he caught a career-high 10 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown in SEMO's 35-27 home loss to Illinois State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. He thrived in the Redhawks’ offense. He caught 76 passes, second only to teammate Cam Pedro for the Big South-OVC lead. His 934 receiving yards and six touchdowns also were among the top 10 in conference pass catchers.

Prior to his arrival, Smith played two seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. He played 10 games last year with 14 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown, and also seven games with two receptions for 91 yards and one touchdown as a freshman in 2022.

After one year in Missouri, however, he wondered if more was out there and decided to take a chance.

“The main reason I entered the portal was really just taking a gamble on myself and just seeing if I can play at the highest level of the game,” Smith told TigerNet. “And then Coach (Tyler) Grisham followed me on Twitter. I texted him, ‘Thanks for the follow coach’ and I'm keeping in contact with him and one day he told me Coach Swinney was going to call me soon.”

It wasn’t long before a random FaceTime call popped up on Smith’s phone.

“I got a call from Coach Swinney and it was a random number, FaceTime number, and I let the phone ring for a little bit. I didn't know who it was,” Smith said. “I didn't know if I wanted to pick the phone up. And then I picked the phone up and it was Coach Swinney and he was just smiling and I was a little shocked. That's how I started talking to him.”

What was it like seeing a National Championship coach on the other end?

“It was shocking being that where I'm from, not too many people make it as far as I got to talking to him,” Smith said. “It was just like a regular conversation I was just having with a friend. So it was pretty cool talking to him and being on the phone with him.”

Clemson invited Smith in for a visit, and he arrived in the early hours of Monday morning.

“My visit started at nine, so I got a couple hours of sleep. The visit was perfect. I knew from the moment I stepped on campus that this was home,” Smith said. “I watched them practice and everything they do is at the top level. Everything is elite. In the team meeting, everything is elite. The receiver meeting, everything is elite. So just when I saw that I was like, oh yeah, this is home right here.

“I ate a lot of food. We ate a lot. I watched them practice. That was the best part. Watching them practice on Monday, went to a team meeting, went to a segment meeting with the receivers, met some coaches, met a couple of great players and talked to Coach Swinney.”

Swinney pulled Smith out of the segment meeting for a one-on-one conversation in his office.

“I sat down and had a great conversation with him. It was more than just football, it was just about life. And just hearing his story, I was thinking our stories are kind of similar,” Smith said. “Nobody would ever thought that being that who he is. So, it just came down to it and long story short, that conversation ended good and my emotions were really high at the time. I really don't remember exactly what he was saying. I was emotionally hijacked, but I just know we had a great conversation and ultimately ended with me telling him, this is where I want to go. I want to be here. I don't want to take any more visits. I don't want to get on any more planes. I don't want to go see any other schools. This is where I want to play.”

Smith made sure to check out Clemson’s receivers during practice.

“Bryant Wesco is a young guy but he’s really elite. He's a pretty tall guy, and he's really elite. And Antonio (Williams), he's pretty good, too, but all their receivers were pretty good,” Smith said. “Every receiver I watched, they were getting out their routes fast. T.J. Moore, he's a pretty good receiver, and just watching them and I'm like, okay, I know coming into this receiver room I can learn a lot from them and hopefully they can learn a lot from me. Everything they did was elite after practice, they got some catches in during practice, they were catching a tennis ball. I thought, these guys are going to be great one day.”

Where does he fit in?

“Just making plays. Just being the best version I can be,” he said. “Just being a great guy. Making plays, being a leader on and off the field and just being a red zone threat. Just going up and catching jump balls. Those 50-50 balls.”

Smith won’t travel with the team to Texas but says he will watch the Playoff game with friends back in Missouri. Then he will travel back to Clemson for a January enrollment. He has one year of eligibility remaining, but said he didn’t play much during his freshman year at Hutchinson and has submitted an application to get that year back.

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