SMU Mustangs 2024-25 Football Preview - DT w/ Rhett Lashlee

[Music] welcome here to a very special wakeup call with Dan tortor Spotlight broadcast inside of the Heritage Hill Studios Heritage Hill our exclusive Studio partner you'll find them on 3149 sweet Road in pompy New York at their brew house and you will find them right by the airport very easy to get to on 628 South Main Street in North Syracuse New York at sweetheart corner so with all of that being said here I am honored and privileged to put the spotlight on the SMU Mustangs and their football program with head coach Rhett Lashley who is no stranger to the broadcast coach how we doing oh what's up Dan we're doing good we're uh one week from practice number one for us so we're uh we're ramping up getting ready go and you and I we you well we met last year and you know we're down in Arlington and I get to have the opportunity of speaking with you obviously I've covered SMU the whole time they've been in the American Athletic you and I got to meet in recent history here and then we've done zooms along the way and now we're doing this again but take one letter out and put another one in take out a vow for a consonant and now it's not the AAC preview it's the ACCC what has that been like I know your team's got to prepare and do the things that they do but there has been a shift from one conference to another how do you feel that within your program um I think you feel internally there's just a lot of excitement you know from from our staff and our players because if you're a competitor you want to compete at the highest level and and now we get to do that I mean in a lot of ways you know the way we run our football program hasn't changed yeah um but since January we've been as if we're in the ACC the way we recruit the way we do all of those things I'd say recruiting is the number one thing that changed uh even though officially July 1st was when we entered the league um because we were preparing for for this season in this league and so I think from the way you know we're fortunate to have a lot of guys returning from last year you know I think we only had lost 11 guys to graduation we were very fortunate we didn't lose a lot of guys in the portal um a lot of guys wanted to stay and um so we're you know I've said it we're defending champs now I don't know what we're defending champs of but we're defending champs and um you know it's um a lot of guys that know what it takes to win consistently and when at that level are going to be on this team that you know we're excited to see where we stand and how we measure up as we go into the ACC yeah you said that you know you feel that level of excitement and there has been some change and you felt that in recruiting what changes for the positive from a move going from the AAC to the ACC yeah I think look the obvious ones you would think we're we're now in one of at least by all the financials one of the top three conferences in America and so you know our first home game in the League this year is against Florida State so like you just we play Florida States and Miami and Clemson's and everyone else in our league it's a fantastic league and I just think it just changed that was really the last thing we didn't have as a program to kind of put ourselves back on the national stage at the highest level um you know we had been winning we won more games than any division one school in the last five years in the state of Texas we won a championship we finished ranked we got a brand new well over $100 million facility we're moving into like there was so much momentum we have an excellent School we're in the city of Dallas but when you start recruiting specifically these high school kids which we can do here with our location yeah you get to the top three to five but then they say well I want to play on the biggest stage and they couldn't do that SMU and now they can and so I think that's why if you look right now as the season gets started we're top 25 and just about every recruiting metrics category and those stuff that stuff doesn't you know mean a lot other than we've never had a top 25 class probably never had a top 30 class and we're already in that conversation and we've never played a game simply by the fact that we're now in the ACC and so um I think that's where you see the biggest bump we were already we kind of built the program up as a transfer destination that those opportunities won't change but now it allows us to sign full classes Elite classes out of high school to where maybe we can go into the portal every year to try to add value and and fill our holes and build our team but not have to necessarily build our team out of the portal every year yeah you know and and like you said when you're when you're looking at this and and all the positive changes and the things that you can highlight over a over aund million new facility that you're moving into just bring me into that and and what that's doing for SMU and what is being upgraded what's being changed like when when you think about this facility that you're moving into what some of those key pieces are that you think were necessary at SMU that are coming with this facility Well it's ex it's a long list but the biggest thing is we didn't have a football only facility here like we share our facility with other people and that's not how power programs work that's not how big time football programs work and I think it should be said that that Rick hard and our Administration and Gary Weber and Bill Armstrong who gave a lot of gifts and a bunch of other people to this project this project broke ground well before we were invited to the ACC so we were already making the investments in our program but the football facility specifically being a football only facility is a big deal because one that's the player's home if you just imagine if you were to go buy a home and buy a brand new home like that's what they're getting yeah they're getting a brand new new locker room brand new training room equipment room weight room that's 18,000 Square ft you know brand new coaches offices brand new meeting rooms brand new training table with a performance shift to eat all their meals and like anything and everything that we either didn't have or was older they now have and so I think for us the biggest benefit it helps in recruiting but it also helps nowadays in retention yeah because you got players on your team that can leave every year and if they don't have a great facility and they're not happy with their quote home then you know that's just one more issue you have to overcome um so I think we're going from needing a new facility no matter what to not only getting the new facility but this is going to be top 10 15 in the country I mean it's state-of-the-art it's not like we just got a new facility we went all in and then the last thing it does is it's in our our South End Zone and it closes our stadium in yeah and so it makes our atmosphere much more intimate and and much more powerful I think you know and I love the city of Dallas and I know that you have embraced that as an institution not just a football program and you see it in the logo with the triple D there that this has been very much a a passion project what you're doing at SMU is is a give back to Dallas Texas and just a love you know wearing Dallas and cursive across your chest at times there's there's just a lot to be said about that the decision over these last few years to really just talk about we not just SMU but we're we are Dallas this is our home we wear them we love them they are us we are them when when that decision was made what do you think that's done for SMU to embrace Dallas Texas and to be so so wanting to Spotlight what home truly is for SMU yeah I think from a partnership and just a marketing opportunity it's it's changed everything you know when you take a program like I've said the conference change for us is Big because I think our fan base and our school has so much appreciation and gratitude for the moment because we were on this stage and then we had it taken away it's not like this was going to be our first time on the big stage of college football but we had a program that had a long Rich history from do Walker to the Eric Dickerson days and 11 Southwest conference championships and three claimed national titles and Heisman Trophy winners and then we had gone through a drought for about 30 plus years and what the partnership with the city of Dallas did was a couple things one from a marketing standpoint it kind of operated as a Rebrand for our program and it made us more current particularly to the age generation in the LA that are 30 and under that don't remember the Glory Days of SMU um that coupled with winning has made it cool to wear the triple D all over the city again I think mayor Eric Johnson deserves a ton of credit I mean he was at my press conference two and a half years ago and he said he wanted a championship we got that done in year two but like you know now we're going to the ACC and he has championed that and he has supported that and he has been there for us I think our recruiting efforts have been more all of Dallas Incorporated um and so I think it's a big deal but I think at the end of the day the city of Dallas to your point is a great City it's arguably the number one city in America I mean it's the number one city in the country for jobs Sports business j a year ago said it was the number one city in the country for Sports in business it's a top five media Market everyone's moving here it's safe our mayor's done a great job the city of Dallas deserves deserves a city like Dallas deserves to have a big time college football team a big time College athletics program and we're able to provide that now is we're the only School within 30 mile drive of Dallas and so I just think that partnership has really worked well for both sides and we're honored to get to kind of you know run around the country and play our games and say we're from Dallas yeah you know here with SMU Mustangs head football coach R Lashley inside of the Heritage Hill Studios on wake up call with Dan tortor U was a part of the creation of the American we go back to 2013 this is how the record's gone five and for SMU 5- 7 1 and 11 2 and 10 5- 7 7- six 5- 7 then we go from 2019 on 10 and 3 7 and 3 8 and 4 7 and 6 11 and three and in that time period it was sunny dkes to you so just what you can say about the history of the American I know you've been the head coach for 2 years going into the your third year of being a head coach and first one in the ACC for SMU but to look at these last few years and to have consistent winning records like you said in the state of Texas when people think about Texas and Texas A&M and Texas Tech and so on and so forth and Baylor that there has been a level of consistency with SMU where we're not seeing 10 and three 1 and 11 5- seven 4- 8 7-6 we're seeing a team that is consistently going to bowl games we're seeing a team that started to win under Chad Morris returned to the bull world then won Under sunny dkes and now is winning under you and there's something to be said about the culture the environment of who SMU football is when we can see coaching changes we can see this inconsistency beforehand and now we're seeing a team that is winning it wasn't just winning under one Co it wasn't just winning under one player there's something about the culture at SMU and I'd love for you to speak to that no I love the question I think winning is a habit and and our program has developed winning as a habit and something that is an expectation for our program and to your point a lot of coaches particularly from about 2010 on but even the ones before who went through some of the rough patches all had a hand in getting the program back to where it is and so I'm just the one who's fortunate and humbled to get to be the head coach during this time but but um no I think there's a consistency in winning you have to win we started winning you know 2019 was kind of the Breakthrough year when we won 10 games that was also the first year that kind of the partnership with the city of Dallas started to your point earlier um so you have to win at a consistent level you have to win big you know two double digit win Seasons games you know on you know the Game Day game of the week when we played Memphis in 19 being ranked both in 19 and last year in the college football playoff rankings like things like that are are things you have to do and then we had to the elephant in the room is we had to break through and win a championship and we had to then get into a power conference but to your point you know Rick Hart and and uh Dr Turner here were a part of SMU helping form the American Athletic Conference and we're very grateful to that League it's a fantastic League um you look at this year I mean I can't imagine H having try to handicap that league with the Memphis is and the utas and what South Florida's going to be and two lane you know with the new staff like there's going to be a team out of that league in the college football playoff this year and I think last year probably proved that they don't want to mess that up again but like um it's just a fantastic league and we're very appreciative of the opportunities we had to be a part of that League hopefully add value to the league and same to us that got us to the point where we are and it just ended up being a move our program had to make but to your point it's been a long road a lot of people have had a hand in it and I think that's why there's so much appreciation for the moment here yeah you know and seeing this road I mean this the the only program to ever go through the death penalty in football right back in 1987 when it was handed down I think February 25th 1987 to see a team that went through that when no one else has experienced such a thing and to have to endure that it seemed like there had been Decades of time of just not clicking just things just not you know like essentially of this mustang just just those those Hooves not hitting the ground just kind of hovering and trying to get down on the ground and we saw that with Chad Morris that it's like okay after after something that happened such a long time ago is this is this finally a program that's going to be viable in college football and then with Sunny Dykes and now with you to endure something like that as an institution and to be so unique in that what do you think about when you look at SMU to the world and you know what the history was like and you know what SMU went through are we finally pass that are the dark days over so to speak and and what type of what type of message do you think rings out from Dallas Texas from the campus of Southern Methodist yeah it's a fantastic question and and yes I think without question we're past those days um I think our program has been revitalized our school has been revived a little bit through this process um you know I think it's easy to look back now and say it was the most unjust penalty in the history of College athletics now let me be clear I'm not saying that SMU didn't do anything wrong no one would and and look the excuse is never good right that just because everyone's doing it that's why we did it but everyone was doing it and they chose to single out one program again who was who was wrong but nobody knew back then what a death penalty would do to a program and I think that's why it's never been done before to people that have done the same or worse since then because I think they realize that's just very unfair and unjust of a penalty because we lost a generation of fans and and then you you couple in few years later when the Southwest Conference broke up SMU the city of Dallas would have absolutely been in the new Big 12 if it had been under a different light at that time but it just wasn't and so then you get left behind in the conference piece and then you go through a period of time where if you're being honest like most people would have thrown in the towel most programs with that kind of upset shame anger whatever would have just said man it's not worth it and uh you know it's almost like getting knocked down in a boxing match and you're on the nine count when you get up but then they just started that process and really June Jones was the first one around 10 to start winning again and putting guys like Emanuel Sanders and Kelvin beum and Cole Beasley in the league Etc but there was a lot of coaches from forest Greg on that got the program kept the program alive and then the coaches to your point till now that have brought us back but um I think the university give or take some years around 2010 just said we're all in on starting to build our program back you know the pain the hurt had all subsided let's go and I think you're looking at now 15 years later what that process has um kind of given off as fruit and we're back we're in the ACC we're considered a national brand anyways but now we're starting to kind of get the respect we feel like we can Garner at this place and look I don't know how long it's going to take us but I know this if we're given the same opportunities and resources everyone else around the country are given we feel like we can compete at the highest level year in and year out and um so I think I think everything from the last five years to winning a championship to get in the ACC invite was kind of the last pieces that just kind of made that completely in the past yeah you know and I love the answer and I can appreciate it when you look at where you are like you said if if you were in a different light at the time you believe SMU would have been in the Big 12 we know that the Big 12 has such an emphasis on Texas or at least had such an emphasis on the state of Texas the American Athletic that you are leaving that you officially left on July 1st 2024 they have put an emphasis on Texas now you're going into the ACC which has no emphasis on Texas the Atlantic Coast Conference sticking to the Atlantic coast for the most part and now taking two teams from California and K and Stanford and taking one team from the state of Texas with SMU what is that like and what does that do I know you said being in what you considered a power conference was the next step you believe it's important but now you are the Lan representative from the loone Star State I think it's a great Advantage for us and in kind of finishing up your thought I mean think about it when the Southwest Conference broke up the Big 12 and every other conference chose to leave out Dallas and Houston like think about that that would never happen today just the way TV is and media markets but the American saw that as a as a positive and and it benefited both programs and now we're both back on the stage and you I think for us is it's Unique we're in a conference that from an institution the schools believe more like we do the the North Carolinas the the miamis even the Virginia the Wake Forest the Virginia Tech the Dukes the the Clemsons like we're kind of with a peer group that aligns with our school being an excellent academic institution that also wants to and is really good at Athletics so I think it's a fit and I think you given the fact that Dallas is pretty much most Year's number one or two in the country and most high school talent signing division one scholarships it's it's the number one city in the country for jobs everything that Dallas is and the state of Texas is from a football standpoint the ACC saw that value and so now that opens up this state to that conference but to your point in this state there's two schools in the SEC there's a bunch of schools in in the Big 12 and the American and then there's one school in the ACC and that's us and so it gives us a differentiator we're playing on the big stage we're in a conf there's only three conferences right now that have big National Brands and we're in one of them and um and we have a uniqueness that no one else has and so I think that plays to our advantage for sure and and as we look to this season this first season inside the Atlantic Coast Conference for SMU we look at the schedule that you have which you had alluded to earlier you're going to play all your non-conference right out of the gate here at Nevada and then you'll have Houston and then you'll have or pardon me hcu so you'll go up against them and when you go up against them after that's a Houston Christian University and then BYU and TCU which is a game that I think is really interesting between you and the horn frogs and then you'll have your first home game inside of the ACC when you face off against Florida State that's family weekend stripe out and uh very excited for what that's going to look like at Gerald Ford Stadium on September 28th on a Saturday then you're going to be at Louisville at Stanford out in California at Duke so that's going to be interesting a Kentucky California North Carolina road trip then your home for Pittsburgh and Boston College you're on the road at Virginia and you'll finish up against Cal on November 30th at home so it's going to be an interesting new life here in the ACC and definitely that string of games that finds you in Kentucky California and North Carolina three weeks in a row is going to be a unique kind of placement there well I should say three out of four weeks as you will have a buy in between it's October 5th at Louisville then a break then at Stanford October 19th and October 26th at Duke but three Road games in a row just your thoughts on how the schedule Maps out for the ACC in your first season in the conference yeah I think one it's exciting I mean you just listed off our schedule and that's 10 of our 12 games are against BigTime National you know or Regional um opponents that have been in the power conferences other than BYU for a long time and yeah um so that's exciting you know I think you look at our schedule in a lot of ways um it's a good schedule in that um you know four of our first five games are at home in August and September and three of our last four games are at home in November and we don't play at home in October which is crazy so um you know always I think getting off to a good start we were supposed to play Vanderbilt this year they decided to to opt out of that so Nevada was great to to pop on the schedule so we open one at Nevada in week zero so we start a week early that'll be exciting to get going quick and and we get Houston Christian at home to open up our new facility and our new kind of stadium look and then you look at that after those two games you know hopefully you're healthy and playing well and and can find a way to be you know able to win those games but then you got BYU at home TCU at home Florida State at home three weeks in a row like when was the last time SMU got to play BYU TCU Florida State at Ford stadium so that's what the conference gives us being in a league being on that National stage uh now that's a heck of a schedule you know and that's a heck of a stretch and then to your point after that you go three three straight weeks on the road not only Louisville but then you go west Coast to East Coast and so but man it's exciting I think one of the things that I've never played week zero and it is a leap year and when you a leap year you get two by- weeks and then week zero you get a third and so the way our schedule worked out is kind of interesting I don't know if I'll like it or not we'll see at the end normally I'd say no yeah because if you're playing good you want to keep playing if you're not playing good you want to fix it but we never play more than three games in a row without a bye and you start thinking about a program moving up in weight class going into the ACC the the week in week out grind the physicality the depth those are the things that concern you in that transition and so we're going to play three games and have an off week and play three games and have an off week and play three games and have an off week and play three games that could really in a unique way be a benefit to us because it allows us hopefully to stay fresher and healthier as we go 10 straight weeks playing Power conference opponents which we haven't done you know in over 25 30 years before we jump into rapid fire being in a conference that is currently going through a legal battle with some of its members does that concern you at all that Clemson has a lawsuit Florida state has a lawsuit you're not playing Clemson this year but you are playing Florida State the thought that you're entering a conference where there could still be movement in the ACC and two of the identifiers in football probably the most notable identifiers in football Clemson and Florida States could be looking to exit and go into a different conference does does that matter to you of going into the ACC calling it a power and knowing what it can be for SMU if in fact we do see some teams exit knowing that there is a legal conversation going on over the grant of rights right now yeah I mean look it's not ideal anyone would admit that but no it doesn't one because I don't have any control over it but two I I think the Atlantic Coast Conference is much more powerful than just one or two teams and you look at we got 17 teams now and 18 if you count Notre Dame and everything except football and um I I think you got to look to the fact that the numbers from revenue shared to TV deals to championships won to big games on the schedule this year without question say it's it's not even close it's one of the best three leagues but you look at the big 12 that lost Texas and OU they're only two big National Brands and identifiers and they're still a league and and a good League right and so you know in the event that a few teams ever left you're still going to have a really good League that people are going to want to be a part of and so no it doesn't concern me all that stuff will work itself out I think the next five to seven years of college athletics nobody really knows what's going to happen but what I do know is that SMU is in the power conversation now we're in the power for conference level uh we're we have a seat at the table we have the means and wherewithal and the commitment to do anything and everything that everyone else is going to do at that level um to allow oursel to be a part of whatever shifts come next in the future um but I know this uh being in the Atlantic Coast Conference is a big deal for SMU I think it's a big deal for all the teams in our league and that stuff will work itself out but no it really doesn't um because I think you see the conferences that have the stained power in in acc's without question one of them that coming from Rett Lashley appreciate that and definitely appreciate the Outlook and controlling you can control we're going to jump into rapid fire here inside of the Heritage Hill Studios Rett you got the first question what do you got for me I'm asking you yes you can ask me whatever it's been a minute I've been turned my brain off um you're all good all right who's gonna win the American Conference this year oh boy why is everybody got to ask me this really really tough question I think that I think there's a bunch of teams that are capable feet to the fire right now I'm going to I would probably lean a little bit more UTSA but you know and T Lane not having Willie Fritz I know that he's built them into something he wins everywhere he goes and that's a true statement but you know I'm going to miss him there and Michael Pratt obviously and some of the other guys but I I think that I think there's a few teams I think U UAB is a little sneaky I think Memphis a little sneaky but if I had to say it right now I say UTSA my question back to you is how would you describe Jim Phillips as a leader now that you're going into a conference with him as commissioner yeah I think steady um positive um incredibly optimistic and hopeful about the future um you know I've been I have been impressed you know leaders leadership's tough and leadership's lonely and especially when you're a head coach or an ad or a president or a commissioner of a league like there's a lot on your played and so much happens in the media that you can't control and and honestly if you tried to you'd go crazy and to be able to stay steady and lead with a steady hand with a optimistic outlook on not only the present but the future uh I've been really impressed with that so really grateful that he saw in our institution what I think people even though we haven't played a game yet and look we got a lot to go earn and we got our work cut out for us to prove that that we belong over the next several years on this stage but I think just with the way we've prepared and the kind of fundraising and all the things that people have done I think people have already noticed that um it was a wise move um to get into the state of Texas and Dallas in a school like SMU so we're very grateful to him for that final question that you got for me coach what is it who uh who's the four teams getting to buy in the playoff this year Oregon I'm going to say Oregon I'm going to say oh Big 12 that's tough Baylor I'm feet to the fire right now in this moment Florida State and oh jeez so I did the Big 12 I did the oh and then the SEC and Georgia those are the four that I'm going to say right now in this moment I'm going to break your rules I get an amendment how many years until the Mustangs are in the playoffs I'm going to tell you this right now the ACC uh Clemson hasn't been what they used to be but I have the utmost respect for Deb o Sweeney and well beyond football being a man of God and and speaking the way that he does about the more important things but I would say I think that SMU I'm going to put it to you like this Florida state has gotten better with Mike noral which I said would happen because I was with him at at Memphis and dab Sweeny as long as he's in Clemson I think that they're a Guiding Light for the conference but within that top three the world is open so I think the relevancy of SMU you weren't given the respect nationally and you weren't given the respect inside of the American by people from the outside looking in and I thought that that was stupid because you played spoiler over the years to a bunch of really good teams and I think that SMU can hang so I am not going to say that anybody should take you lightly but you know being a fan of you Rhett and being a fan of what you're doing I hope some teams take you lightly so that you can go out there and show them what it is that's what I'll say well answered uh my my question my final question back to you I'm going to be down in the Dallas Arlington area obviously with AAC kickoff before I head to ACC kickoff what is one thing I need to do in Dallas while I'm there well see that puts me in a greatly tough spot because whoever I leave out is like uh uh yeah well the number one thing you need to do is come by and see us you know and see our new facility and what we got going on and see uh See SMU for the first time as a member of the ACC but I also think you need to go down to our buddies at Terry black and get you some barbecue in Deep Ellum all right Terry black because I was given a place in Fort Worth and I'm not going to say what it was but it let me down so you you gave me not not surprising so what is the place called in Dallas Terry black Terry blacks and they're not the only good we got Hutchins is good the pean LOD is famous but but Terry black is uh it's about eight minutes from campus in Deep Ellum and uh they got the best ribs the best beef ribs the best everything you could ever imagine all right well I'm going to take you up on that based on traveling schedule maybe you and I can actually cross I think there's a window where we might be able to cross path so that invitation to SMU if you're going to be there coach and we can make it happen then let's do that awesome love to have you R Lashley once again a true Pioneer in the work that he's doing right now and somebody that I respect very much so SMU Mustangs head football coach heading into the 20242 season coach you already know that on and off the field you got a lot of respect coming from me and a lot of appreciation for the fact that you always make time so I can't say enough to your character I appreciate it thanks Dan much reciprocated back to you [Music]