Louisville · L 31-41
No tackles.
Virginia · W 23-13
No tackles.
Syracuse · L 27-30
No tackles.
Nettles has tackles in 5 of SMU’s 8 games: none against Louisville, Virginia and Syracuse.
William Nettles
Third year in the same secondary at SMU. One game to point at: 3 tackles against California — Week 8, 2026.
10 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
His game this year: coverage — 3 passes defended in the 5 games with play by play.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 5 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-24@ Florida State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 56-10vs UC Davis | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-24vs Missouri State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 25-16vs Boston College | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 59-20vs California | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Total | 10 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 |
Week 1 · 2026
W 27-24
2 tackles · 1 pass breakup · 2 solo tackles
A close one, won by 3 on the road.
Ratings of the games shown run from -17 to +6 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
30%3 pass breakupsTackle volume
10tackles this season10 tackles · 3 pass breakups.
3 seasons under Rhett Lashlee — 26-9 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road1g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rhett Lashlee
Pass share
49.4%
268 pass / 275 run
Plays / game
67.9
8 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #9 of 19 ACC CBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Rhett Lashlee.
