Former Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee is thriving in his first head coaching job with the SMU Mustangs, and FOX Sports' Joel Klatt doesn't anticipate that dominance in Dallas ending anytime soon.
Per Klatt, "Rhett Lashlee has done a marvelous job as SMU's head coach. The Mustangs have done a marvelous job of making sure Lashlee remains their head coach as well. SMU has won 31 games over the last three years. That's the 10th-most in the country, and SMU has gone 14-2 in its last two seasons of ACC play. The Mustangs also have experienced quarterback play with Kevin Jennings returning. This is a team that's not going anywhere."
Lashlee has had a stellar offseason PR-wise. ESPN's Bill Connelly recently listed Lashlee as the second-best head coach of the 2020s, saying, "Rhett Lashlee ranks second overall thanks to his stellar run at SMU. Even with a slight step backward in 2025, his Mustangs have ranked between 12th and 24th in SP+ for the past three seasons, a mammoth achievement for a school that hadn't pulled off a top-25 rating since 1984 and had averaged an 88.0 ranking since returning from the death penalty in 1989. Seeing him in second might feel shocking, but it shouldn't."
Having catapulted from 7-6 to 11 wins in his second season, only to maintain that pace during SMU's first season in the ACC, Lashlee is only inspiring confidence. 2025 was a step back for the Mustangs, but there's clearly belief that last fall was merely a blip.
Rhett Lashlee may run out of resources at SMU eventually
Never forget the financial sacrifice SMU had to make to secure a move up to the Power 4: giving up nine years of guaranteed conference payouts, with only performance-based incentives allowed to the Mustangs.
Lashlee is navigating that well, for now. Will NIL/rev-share eventually suffer at SMU because of the financial disadvantage the 'Stangs are at? Granted, SMU has a multi-billion-dollar endowment, so it's not as though it will ever be short on spending.
Still, one wonders if Lashlee could have more with the Texas Longhorns or Texas Tech Red Raiders, should either Lone Star State university need a new head coach anytime soon. Lashlee could keep his Texas recruiting pipelines and have more money behind him.
Lashlee's future in the "Hilltop" is one worth monitoring over the next year or two, should the Mustangs not make a deep CFP run.
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