Note: This story is featured in the 2026 edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football's Summer Magazine, which you can order here.

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SMU is 31-10 since the start of 2023 and 14-2 against ACC teams in the regular season since joining the Power Four in 2024. The Mustangs were once a fund redemption story of a program that was long forgotten because of transgressions that now feel small in the world of NIL, revenue sharing, and unlimited transfers.  

But SMU is no longer defined by the Death Penalty and the climb back to college football relevance. In fact, this is the last time we’ll mention it. Rhett Lashlee’s program is a bona fide ACC contender alongside Miami and Louisville. The Mustangs are a combined 5-1 against Miami, Florida State, Clemson, and Louisville since joining the conference and must be mentioned when talking about College Football Playoff contenders heading into 2026.  

“We want to go from good to great,” Lashlee said. “We want to win the ACC. We want to get to the playoffs and win a game. We want to host a game in the CFP because, ultimately, we’re trying to push towards winning another national championship here.”  

SMU missed out on a second consecutive trip to the ACC Championship game with a loss at Cal in the regular season finale last year. But the Mustangs won’t need to wait until November to find out where they sit in the ACC pecking order this year. That’s because they open the season on the road against Florida State and then travel to Louisville two weeks later.  

Lashlee isn’t complaining about the draw and neither are his players. Instead, the Ponies are using the early road conference games as a carrot and a stick during offseason preparation. Getting to start the season against Directional U is nice, but beginning on the road against the Seminoles in a premier game on Labor Day is an opportunity that everyone at SMU would’ve taken for over three decades.  

You know the saying: Beggars can’t be choosers.  

“Any coach will tell you that the team is a little more urgent in the offseason when the season starts with big games out of the gate, especially once we get to fall camp,” Lashlee said. “We’ve finished well and done great against conference opponents in our four years, but we haven’t always stated on the right foot and that’s put our backs against the wall. This year, we would like to start better.”  

The offseason on the Hilltop was defined by change. SMU replaced all three coordinators from last year’s team with in-house promotions. Rob Likens and D’Eriq King were elevated to co-offensive coordinator duties, replacing Casey Woods, who is now the head coach at Missouri State. Ironically, Woods comes back to Ford Stadium for a non-conference game in Week 4. Lashlee remains the offensive play caller so don’t expect many schematic changes for the Mustangs in 2026.  

The bigger shakeups were at defense and on special teams. Maurice Crum Jr. and Rick Hunley Jr. were promoted to co-defensive coordinator status when Scott Symons accepted a job as the inside linebacker coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Crum will call the defense for the first time since he was at Western Kentucky in 2021. Casey Horny is now the special teams coordinator.  

“It’s been a nice blend and we’re not fixing what’s not broken,” Lashlee said of promoting from within. “We’ve got good continuity and it didn’t feel like we had three new coordinators in the spring.”  

The roster also experienced massive turnover. But Lashlee & Co. knew that was coming and spent the last few years stocking the roster with homegrown high school talent that he believes is now ready to be unleashed on the rest of the ACC. That’s made the portal hauls smaller.   

“We have a chance to have the highest ceiling we’ve had here,” Lashlee said about his roster talent. “We’re bigger across the board and we’re longer and more athletic. We have a good blend of experience coming back with the best two recruiting classes we’ve ever had.”