Jack Smith doesn’t believe he’s done anything at this point to supplant Aidan Swanson as Clemson’s full-time punter. But there’s a long way to go before the Tigers open the 2023 season against Duke on Labor Day night.

“I would say I still have a chance,” Smith said.

Those are words Smith likely wouldn’t have uttered this time a year ago when the freshman was going through his first spring at Clemson. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder brought with him a powerful right leg from Saraland (Alabama) High School after signing with the Tigers as part of their 2022 recruiting class. 

But making the jump from the prep ranks to one of the premier programs in college football was an adjustment for Smith, who had been entrenched atop the depth chart as a high school specialist for years. When Smith arrived at Clemson last January as an early enrollee, that was no longer the case.

“In high school, I really didn’t have that pressure because I was the starter since my sophomore year,” Smith said. “I knew coming in I had a chance, but I just had to get acclimated to the pressure, get acclimated to live reps and just a lot faster of a snap. That was one of the major changes.”

Smith put added pressure on himself as a result, which negatively affected his confidence and performance. It wasn’t shanking punts as much as it was a lack of consistency in technique, Smith said.

“I would definitely say last spring was a little wobbly for me,” Smith said. “Didn’t have all my screws together is one way to say it.”

Inconsistency plagued the position as a whole leading up to last season. Coming out of last spring, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney identified punter as the biggest question mark he had from a position standpoint. The punters then opened fall camp with a rough showing. In the end, the job went to Swanson, who averaged 42.3 yards per punt as a fourth-year junior.

“I just had to take advantage of that chance and I didn’t. That’s the harsh truth of it,” Smith said. “I didn’t take advantage of my opportunities, and he won the job fair and square. He’s a really good punter. He earned it.”

Smith went on to redshirt last season. He said he felt the pressure he’d been putting on himself began to wane toward the end of fall camp. When he feels those nerves coming on again, his defense mechanism starts with clearing his head, taking deep breaths and letting his heart rate come down, he said.

“And just do what you’ve done,” Smith added. “I’ve been doing this since my freshman year of high school. I know what I can do. I’ve just got to go out there and do it kind of thing.

“Just got to trust myself. Confidence. That’s all it is.”

The redshirt year also helped him refocus his technique. The good thing about going through the routine of punting for years, Smith said, is being able to quickly identify the breakdowns and fix them.

“All of my technique stayed the same,” he said. “It’s just I would sometimes bring my toe up when I needed to keep it flat. Or my drop would fall outside when I need to keep it in. Just minor things that just happen.”

A year removed from those freshman jitters, Smith said he’s in a different place with his consistency, which is what he believes he needs in order to push Swanson for the starting job. It has strengthened Smith’s belief in his ability to do the one thing that brought him to Clemson in the first place.

“I’ve gotten a lot more confident from all the work I’ve been putting in,” Smith said. “I’ve put in all the work that there is to put in this spring. There hasn’t been day where I haven’t done something to get better, and that’s been one of my goals is get at least 1% better at something every day. And I feel like I’ve done that.”