Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is thrilled for Tristan Smith and couldn’t be happier that the wide receiver has the chance to play college football for one more year.

On June 12, Smith won a court battle for an extra year of eligibility when he was granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA from the 13th Judicial Circuit in Pickens County, giving him a fifth year of eligibility and clearing him to play in the 2026 football season.

“Just happy for him. Just super happy for him,” Swinney said Tuesday during Clemson’s annual media outing. “That’s been a lot of stress for him, and his mom, too. So, just thankful that it went his way and he’s going to get an opportunity to keep playing.”

Smith requested a waiver for an extra year of eligibility, but was denied by the NCAA late last year. He filed a complaint against the NCAA on January 21 in Pickens County after the NCAA’s decision. Clemson University is located in Pickens County.

Smith’s hearing was held in a Pickens County courtroom on June 8, with Circuit Court Judge Jessica Salvini handing down her decision on the morning of June 12.

The Clemson wideout already had a temporary injunction that allowed him to participate in team activities, but an ankle injury sidelined him over the back half of spring practice.

Had Smith not received an extra year of eligibility, he would have been a student coach for Clemson this fall and the Tigers would have still continued to develop him.  

“He was going to be here either way, and we had a good plan in place to keep training him,”Swinney said. “He would be a student coach, because he still needs to graduate, so he still would have been able to get out there and run around and do stuff, and we’d just kind of develop him. But this is just a game-changer for him to be able to continue to play and put some film on tape and put some good play on tape. I’m really happy for him.”

After transferring to Clemson, following an outstanding 2024 campaign at Southeast Missouri State, Smith tallied 24 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown in 317 offensive snaps over 13 games (four starts) for the Tigers in 2025.

At Southeast Missouri State, he earned second-team Big South-OVC Football Association all-conference honors after catching 76 passes for 934 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games.

Smith spent the first two years of his college career playing at the JUCO level, at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, from 2022-23. He had 14 receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown in 10 games in 2023, after catching two passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in seven games as a freshman in 2022.

Not only is the extra year of eligibility a big win for Smith, but it’s also a win for Clemson’s wide receiver corps, as he further bolsters a room that already featured plenty of talented depth including Bryant Wesco Jr., T.J. Moore and Tyler Brown, among others. 

“It certainly doesn’t hurt the room, that’s for sure,” Swinney added of Smith’s return. “That’s a really good room that got better.”