Former Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee has flourished in his first full-time head coaching gig with the SMU Mustangs, building the program into a perennial contender in the ACC since the 2024 season.
While SMU took a step back in 2025, CBS Sports' Brad Crawford predicts the Mustangs returning to the type of relevancy they had during their inaugural campaign as a Power 4 program, when they made the CFP.
Crawford believes SMU has an 11-win ceiling, and feels good about winning the conference, since the Mustangs won't face the Miami Hurricanes during the 2026 season, saying, "The gargantuan challenge against Notre Dame in South Bend is the only identifiable loss for the Mustangs this spring, given who SMU signed in the portal and the return of a few key pieces in the trenches. Rhett Lashlee has to feel good about his team's chance to win the ACC, especially since they'll dodge Miami during the regular season."
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Does Rhett Lashlee have a non-championship ceiling at SMU?
Lashlee sticking with SMU through the last few hiring cycles is one of the best loyalty stories in the sport. While the Mustangs' transition to the highest level of Division I football couldn't have gone better, there's still a lingering question of what the ceiling is for SMU.
It's not because the Mustangs are in the ACC, which is, at best, the third-most competitive Power 4 conference, with only Miami and the Louisville Cardinals looking like true competition to the throne this fall. SMU isn't a big school, and it plays in a market where they are secondary to the Dallas Cowboys.
Does that mean there's a ceiling, though? Absolutely not.
The Mustangs have a strong alumni base, located primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro in North Texas, one of America's wealthiest regions in the country. The school recently had a $50 million donation from several powerful families, and it took $200 million to even join the ACC.
All in all, there's a strong foundation being built in Dallas. Any program in Texas has to feel good about future NIL/rev-share prospects, given the state's institutional support.
Ipso facto, SMU and Lashlee will be just fine in the coming years. Better than fine, actually.