SMU Might Want to Give Lashlee a Raise Soon

Hiring season is here, so a lot of teams will come sniffing around Dallas looking to see if Mustangs' coach might want to jump ship

DALLAS – With the way SMU keeps winning, it was bound to happen.

With the firing of Jimbo Fisher, Zach Arnett and presumed eventual firing/retirement of Sam Pittman, the name Rhett Lashlee is going to start popping up often and continue to pop up as more jobs come open. 

It comes with the territory of having a winner at a school that isn't a perennial Top 10 program. Ole Miss deals with it this time each year with Lane Kiffin's name showing up on wish lists, and it used to happen all the time with Houston Nutt during his heyday with Arkansas. No matter how many wins he amassed and how loyal he was thought to be, there was always a Nebraska, LSU and eventually Ole Miss knocking on the door to steal him away.

Right now, SMU, UTSA and Tulane are not only competing for an AAC championship, they are competing to see who has the hottest name in the coaching rumor mills. Right now, unfortunately for Pony fans, it's a tight race for the Roadrunners' Jeff Traylor and the Mustangs' Lashlee. 

Traylor's name has come up in many circles as a consideration for Texas A&M, which would greatly strengthen the Aggies' recruiting base in East Texas, holding off LSU and incoming SEC member Texas. Meanwhile, Mississippi State keeps pining for Lashlee, hoping he can bring in an open offense that is more fitting of the players Mike Leach left behind after his passing. 

A big reason we did whatever we could to get into the ACC. Miss State already sniffing around our coaching staff.

No, the ACC is not the SEC (no conference is). But our chances of keeping our coaches improve greatly by getting out of the G5. https://t.co/Ds8Q1OcbEU

— Scott (@MustangScott) November 13, 2023

It would be hard to picture Lashlee leaving SMU for the Bulldogs, especially if administrators give him a raise more in line with a Power Four contract after such a successful season. The easiest way for him to brush aside their advances would be to simply keep winning. 

If the Mustangs win the AAC championship, there's a 50-50 chance they jump Liberty and James Madison in the College Football Playoff poll to become the highest ranked Group of Five team. Of the bowls that can take the team that fits this bill, the Cotton Bowl would make the most sense if SMU is the qualifier. 

That game takes place Dec. 29 and it's hard to imagine Lashlee missing out on the chance to coach in a New Year's Six bowl game after putting in so much work to get there. Not for Mississippi State.

However, there is one school that may make a strong push for both Traylor and, especially Lashlee.
Arkansas.

Traylor is seen in Arkansas as the only coach on the Chad Morris staff, including Morris himself, who has Power Four head coaching potential. He carries a great deal of respect as a recruiter and for what he's been able to do down in San Antonio. His name came up early and has come up often since most began to assume Pittman's seat not only hot, but completely burned to ash.

However, the Razorbacks long coveted former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn until he made Arkansas fans think he was coming one too many times. Now that there's a legitimate opportunity to lure him out of his current job at Central Florida, a lot of those with influence to make it happen appear to be uneasy about making a third run, and only a portion of the fan base would be happy about going after the Arkansas native again.

Instead, there is a more palatable alternative in Lashlee. He not only coached as an assistant under Malzahn, he was his record-setting quarterback at Shiloh Christian just down the road from the University of Arkansas in Springdale, a school that helped the spread offense grow in Arkansas back before it became the norm across college football. He also is a former Razorback. 

Add in his perceived youthfulness and ability to connect with recruits, his connections throughout Arkansas, Texas and Florida, and an offense that is more in line with what has proven to work for the talent the Razorbacks can attract, and there's strong reason for SMU fans to have concern.

The positives for Lashlee is getting a homecoming leading the team he grew up watching and the chance to possibly lead them to the greatness not seen since before Bobby Petrino drove his mistress off the side of a mountain. There's also intense fan support. In place of a generally empty small Ford Stadium would be a packed Razorback Stadium with 77,000 people losing their minds every week and calling the Hogs at every barbecue and catfish joint he and recruits venture into.

What he can't get at Arkansas is the NIL backing he is expected to have next season and a more forgiving schedule than he would face in the SEC. He also gets to tell Texas players they can play against Florida State and Clemson in front of their parents. 

If SMU fans don't want this to happen, then they're going to have to invest in their coach at a Power Four financial level, and they're going to have to invest with time. No more quarter-filled stadiums with people pouring out to go to parties in the middle of the second quarter. Lashlee can't be talking on the radio again about how he and his players would like to go celebrate with the students, but there were none left when the game ended. 

Either act like a Power Four team, or continue to be seen as a Group of Five whose only purpose is to serve as a proving ground for the next round of coaches to test their chops in the SEC by programs like Arkansas and Mississippi State. Fans set the tone for the program, and all season long the tone has been please come take our rising coach.

The last thing SMU needs is for someone to lure Lashlee away. Fans and boosters alike need to understand this is going to happen every year until SMU either doesn't have a coach who can win, or Mustangs fans finally step up and support the team in the most meaningful way – by actually being there.

Money got this team in the door for a proverbial seat at the adults' table. It will be on the fans to determine what life is like once inside. 

PONY EXPRESS:

MUSTANGS' BASKETBALL TEAM THAT HASN'T LOST TOGETHER IN EIGHT TRIES WILL FACE ITS MEASURING STICK TUESDAY AGAINST NO. 13 TEXAS A&M

NAILING KEYS ALLOWS SMU TO AVOID SIGNATURE UNT SECOND HALF COMEBACK, KEEPS AAC TITLE HOPES ALIVE

DFW AREA 4-STAR PROSPECT BECOMES FIRST SIGNEE SPECIFICALLY FOR ACC PLAY AT SMU

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