There is an unmistakable electricity in the air at SMU.
Perhaps no one is more excited than 41-year-old SMU head football coach Rhett Lashlee.
Considered one of the brightest offensive minds in college football, he recognizes that the state of the current program is something to cheer about.
“We are back on the national stage again after back-to-back 11-win seasons, playing for the ACC Championship and reaching the College Football Playoff in our first year back in a Power Conference,” says Lashlee.
Ask any rabid Mustang fan, and you’ll sense the urgency.
"We've had tickets in Section 209 since I graduated,” says Alan Rose, SMU class of 2010. “This past season was something special. The energy at each game was unlike anything I’ve experienced at Ford Stadium. I love suiting up in Pony gear and cheering on my Mustangs with family and friends -- there’s nothing like it.”
Success is hard to achieve but sustained success is even harder, says Lashlee.
“The strengths of our program are the winning culture we've established and our passionate fan base that filled Ford Stadium all last fall.”
As for a philosophy, Lashlee says it’s simple.
“To create a team-oriented culture where everyone has a role in the overall success, and all individual goals will flow through the (entire) team,” he says.
“We want to be known as a fast and physical team and … play tough, disciplined, and united. We believe in players-over-plays, and we want to put our best players in a position to do what they do best.”
Lashlee points to several factors behind the success, including a lock-step alignment between the university and athletic department administration, the football staff, and the team, all committed to competing for championships year in and year out.
“The area’s best players want to stay and play big-time college football in Dallas,” says Lashlee. “Now they can do that, play for their city, and take pride in being a Mustang.”
Mustang quarterback Kevin Jennings (South Oak Cliff), tight end RJ Maryland (Southlake-Carroll), receiver Jordan Hudson (Garland), safety Isaiah Nwokobia (Skyline), Deuce Harmon (Denton-Guyer), and defensive end Cam Robertson (Plano) are all local products. And there are plenty more from around Texas and beyond.
In 2023, the Mustangs went undefeated in the American Athletic Conference and won the conference title. The following year SMU went undefeated in regular-season games in the uber-competitive ACC.
WFAA Director of Sports & Special Projects Sean Hamilton has stayed on top of SMU sports for years, "Covering their rise to the top of the college polls in their first year in the ACC was exciting,” he says. “The Mustangs are certainly going to add to the already full array of sports journalism in this town.”
Beyond the administration’s commitment, games are won on the field. Lashlee thinks SMU’s greatest “superpower” is winning as a team and says some of the (returning) impact players from last year have a chance to be All-Conference or All-Americans and play in the NFL.
“We win, we’re fun to watch, we play a fast and explosive brand of offense, and our defense is aggressive and attacks,” says Lashlee, whose Mustangs will face Baylor, Syracuse, Stanford, Miami, and Louisville at home this season.
Lashlee knows SMU has the distinction of being the Division I school in Dallas and one of only three teams in Texas in a top-three conference.
“We are the only team in Dallas … and Texas is a premier state for high school football, which benefits our recruiting dramatically.
“SMU is one of the few schools in America that can offer both an elite education and degree while playing championship football,” says Lashlee.
“We are back on the national stage again …” – Rhett Lashlee, SMU