Rhett Lashlee avoided the usual headaches associated with taking over a college football program. The first-year head coach was familiar with SMU given his two-year stint as offensive coordinator at the turn of the decade. He was calling plays for the Mustangs in 2019 when the program won 10 games for the first time since 1984. 

Lashlee knew how to navigate campus and recognized the faces in administration. He knows the city of Dallas, and even recruited more than a third of the roster. 

“The familiarity helped,” Lashlee said. “A lot of the guys on the roster knew me, and even the ones who didn’t could go ask the guys who did. I feel I had a better understanding of who we are as a program when I stepped on campus than maybe I would have at another school.” 

That doesn’t mean change is easy. Lashlee spent the first month of the job meeting with his current roster whereas previous generations of new coaches hit the ground running on the recruiting trail. The advent of the transfer portal requires coaches to recruit their own roster before worrying about additions. The Mustangs lost a few key players from the 2021 roster due to transfer portal, namely Alan Ali and Ulysses Bentley IV. But those losses were offset by new additions and a roster that bought in quickly. 

The quarterback room is set with returning starter Tanner Mordecai and Preston Stone, who the staff believes is a future star. The Mustangs added former five-star running back Camar Wheaton on a transfer from Alabama to add to a room that includes Tre Siggers, Tyler Lavine, and a healthy TJ McDaniel. Rashee Rice returns for his fourth season destined to become the No. 1 target on offense. 

The Mustangs return a talented defensive line led by Elijah Chatman and DeVere Levelston. Jimmy Phillips, who is moving inside in the new 4-2-5 defensive system, is an NFL talent according to the staff. Isaac Slade-Matautia, an Oregon transfer, returned to form in the spring. SMU added Minnesota transfer JaQwondis Burns at linebacker. 

“With the guys we have on the current roster, plus the transfers and freshmen we’re adding to it in the summer, we should expect to compete with every team on the schedule,” Lashlee said. “As a coach that is all you can ask for. Our hope is to be in the mix for a conference title.”

Talent wasn’t the issue for SMU under former head coach Sonny Dykes. The Mustangs built a footprint in Dallas and relied heavily on the transfer portal to lure DFW products back home after their first stop failed. SMU went 8-0 to start 2019, 7-1 in 2020, and 7-0 in 2021. The problem was the Mustangs’ closing ability. SMU was 3-9 down the stretch of the last three seasons. 

“Guys want to come to SMU. They want to come to Dallas,” Lashlee said. “We’re on the verge of doing some great things here with the city behind us. Our home state is the metroplex; the ‘State of Dallas’, as we like to call it.”

Lashlee is tasked with taking SMU a step further into conference championship contention. SMU hasn’t won a conference title since 1984. The American Athletic Conference is set for change in the upcoming years with programs such as Houston and Cincinnati heading to the Big 12. That shift allows the Mustangs to rise to the top of a new-look AAC. Dykes helped SMU build a bigger brand and return to relevance on the football field. 

“It takes time to build a winning foundation and that is what Sonny did here, and I was blessed to be part of it for two years,” Lashlee said. “That was our best four-year stretch since the Death Penalty. Our job is to build off that and make it even better.”

The schedule sets up favorably for SMU, which starts the season at North Texas before a home opener in Week 2 against Lamar. Games against Maryland and TCU mark the end of the out of conference schedule. SMU has the luxury of hosting Cincinnati and Houston – the two betting favorites in the AAC. 

The Ceiling
SMU overcomes recent late-season woes to be a surprise contender for the AAC title thanks to an explosive offensive and improving defense. 

The Floor 
SMU falls out of AAC contention and struggles to reach a bowl game under first-year head coach Rhett Lashlee.  

Game of the Year 
SMU vs. TCU — September 24
The 101st rendition of the “Battle for the Iron Skillet” is extra spicy with Sonny Dykes returning to Gerald Ford Stadium as the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs after leading SMU for the last few years. SMU is on a two-game winning streak over its crosstown rivals, but Dykes was in charge for those wins.