How DQ Smith took home top awards for defense and special teams this spring
Sharing the secondary with a couple of Freshman All-Americans and future NFL Draft picks over the last two seasons, South Carolina safety DQ Smith can sometimes get overlooked.
But even with several of those guys back in the Garnet and Black this season, it’s Smith — the quarterback-turned-safety from nearby Spring Valley High School who himself also earned third-team Freshman All-America honors — that took home the team’s MVP Awards for both defense and special teams this spring.
“It’s just he’s everything that we want in this program,” head coach Shane Beamer said Tuesday. “He’s humble. He’s hardworking. He’s steady. He’s consistent.”
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Despite changing positions, the 6-foot-1, 218-pounder has made an immediate impact in his first two years in the program, helping at both nickel and safety before ultimately settling into more of a safety role as this past season progressed.
Smith, who has appeared in 25 career games with 22 starts over the past two seasons, finished third on the team with 73 tackles as a sophomore in 2023. He was credited with 1.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack, one interception, two breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
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Now going into his third year with the program, Smith has emerged as a leader on a veteran defense.
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Beamer added that with the way the staff decides the award winners, Smith independently earned his recognition from defensive coordinator Clayton White and special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis.
“You know, we don’t sit in there as a staff and decide on the awards,” Beamer said. “The offensive staff decides on their guy, the defensive staff decides on their guy, the special team staff decides on their guy, then we get together as a staff and talk about who they want. And then I have the final say if I disagree with any of it.
But Joe D came in there and said, DQ Smith, Clayton and the defensive staff came in there and said, DQ Smith. And he earned it. And it’s because of his consistency and how he how he does things day in, day in, day out.”
