Lashlee's Been Planning for Few Months on Mustangs Getting to ACC

SMU's coach clearly has part of being Power 4 coach in interview with national writer

Oklahoma's Danny Stutsman (28) and Gentry Williams (9) tackle SMU's Keldric Luster (6) in the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners and the Mustangs at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., on Sept. 9, 2023. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY

DALLAS — As the SMU Mustangs get ready to finally get back to playing in a big-boy conference, Rhett Lashlee will be the first coach in the spotlight. Football is starting in a couple of months and that time goes by quickly. Nobody was caught off guard.

In a one-on-one interview with 247Sports' Brandon Marcello last week, he appears to already has the media aspect down of what to say. That means, in this day and age, of talking a lot in response to questions and keep the talking points straight.

"We're literally going up a level for a lack of a better analogy, so we have to raise the level of expectations of ourselves," Lashlee said in the interview with Marcello. "That's mainly because you just can't have an off week and expect to win like maybe we could have last year, but you also have to understand the intensity in recruiting, the intensity of the expectations of your opponents."

The strength in the ACC isn't a surprise, either. They've had a few months to know what they are doing. Considering he coached at Miami, he saw it up close for a season. You can be certain he's well aware of what he's facing.

"We're close," Lashlee said. "We've done, from January until now, everything we could possibly do as a staff to try to build as much depth as we can. We haven't been naive to where we're going."

The Ponies got a little preview last season going to Oklahoma and TCU for games against Big 12 teams. Against the Sooners, SMU stayed in the game until the fourth quarter and discovered exactly what they have to work on to compete for a title in the ACC.

"It was tight in the fourth quarter, but could you do that the next week and the next week?" Lashlee said. "You got to get a little fortunate with injuries, you got to play well because you got to play well to be in the game and if you're off a little bit you're gonna get beat. But then also, we've just done everything we could to put the depth on the roster so our guys will have a chance and we feel like we have a roster that will compete."

Just being able to compete in the ACC isn't the goal, either. Lashlee knows that, too. What he said is exactly what coaches are supposed to say and is the politically correct thing to be saying. They are coming in to win championships, but they aren't expecting it the first year. Sooner or later, it's going to become a requirement.

They haven't had the success they're having putting together money and that world isn't close to transpararent and don't look to Lashlee for any clues to get a clearer picture on that whole deal, either.

"By no means are we leading the pack on any of that, but we have a group that wants us to be competitive and be successful and wants to provide opportunities for our players," Lashlee said. "They know what we're up against in recruiting. They know what we're up against in roster retention. They know the way that college football's changed in the last 18 months. We definitely have support for our program through those kinds of entities that allow us to be very competitive."

See what I said about putting a lot of words out there without saying anything definitive? It's okay, though, but at least the Mustangs will be back at the table ... officially in less than a week.

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