#23

Van Smith

Safety for Clemson. 2017: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 49 tackles.

S · Clemson · #23

5′11″ · 185 lb · Charlotte, NC

Clemson 2017 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

ATH recruit

No. 316 nationally · Signed with Clemson

Statement game16 tacklesvs Louisville (FBS) · W 42-36

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2017 safety for Clemson. 2017: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 49 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Clemson in 2015.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Clemson, 145 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2015

Signed with Clemson4-star out of Hough

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#316 national

CFB

College

Clemson

2015–2017

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2015–2017

1 coach

2015–2017

Dabo Swinney

Clemson

Played his entire career under Dabo Swinney.

2017 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Dabo Swinney — 40-4 over that span.

2015Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2016Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced, fast tempo

2017Clemson12-2HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: sacks (25th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles#698 / 2682 · 74th pct

Solo tackles#759 / 2682 · 71st pct

Passes defended#1090 / 2682 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#69 / 715 · 45th pct

Tackles for loss#1583 / 2682 · 38th pct

1.5

Interceptions#309 / 795 · 31st pct

QB hurries#1249 / 2682 · 27th pct

Sacks#1345 / 2682 · 25th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2017 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.3	0.2	0.0	0.1
Road5g	3.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	0.2	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dabo Swinney

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2017

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2017	Clemson	49	28	1.5	0.0	1	1	--
2016	Clemson	96	65	5.5	0.0	2	2	--
2015	Clemson	--	--	--	--	--	1	--
Career		145	93	7.0	0.0	3	4	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week