Once upon a time, the SMU football program was one of the very best in the country. The Mustangs won 10-plus games four consecutive seasons in the eighties, capped off an 11-0-1 season with a Cotton Bowl victory in 1983, and then just as quickly as they had burst on the scene, they were gone thanks to a Death Penalty that crippled the program. Now, nearly forty years later, SMU is ready to rise from the ashes and re-establish themselves as a college football powerhouse. And they've found the man they believe can get them there.

Rhett Lashlee is only in his second season as the head coach of the Mustangs, but his impact on the SMU football program has been immediate and tangible. As we approach Conference Championship weekend, the Mustangs, the 5th highest scoring team in the country and ranked #25 in the AP Poll, could win their first conference title since 1984 if they pull an upset win over 17th-ranked Tulane in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game. It would be a fitting send-off for SMU as they prepare for a move to the ACC, and surely, SMU has tons of faith in Lashlee that he'll be able to keep the Mustangs competitive as they take a step up in competition.

“We believe in what we are building on the Hilltop and we are excited to finish this season with a chance to compete for the conference championship in the American, and we're humbled to be leading our program into the ACC in 2024 and beyond,” Rhett Lashlee said in a press release via the school.

As we see so often, when schools make a jump to a bigger, more competitive conference, there are typically growing pains. But with Rhett Lashlee able to recruit Texas, it could be a leg up over the rest of his ACC competition.