Winning 10 Games in Season Gets Lashlee on List

SMU coach joins biggest names as finalist for Bryant Coach of the Year Award

HOUSTON — If a rising tide lifts all ships, SMU coach Rhett Lashlee is finding out how high winning 10 games can get. He was named a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award on Thursday. He joins three of the four finalists in the College Football Playoff.

The winner will be announced on January 10th at the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards Ceremony that will take place in Houston at the Post Oak Hotel. The finalists and Coach of the Year recipient are voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team and the Bryant Family.

Lashlee is one of eight coaches who were named, joining David Braun of Northwestern; Jamey Chadwell of Liberty; Kalen DeBoer of Washington; Eliah Drinkwitz of Missouri; Mike Norvell of Florida State and Nick Saban of Alabama and Steve Sarkisian of Texas.

Since 1986, this ceremony has recognized many of college football's all-time greats while raising valuable funds and awareness for the American Heart Association. In addition to recognizing the finalists for and announcing the winner of the Coach of the Year Award, the ceremony will be honoring Coach Lloyd Carr as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and Olivia and Archie Manning as the Heart of a Champion Award recipients.

This is the first time Lashlee has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious award.

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Lashlee has received multiple accolades this postseason as recognition for a big season. He was named co-Coach of the Year by the Dave Campbell's Texas Football publication, a finalist of the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, and a semi-finalist for Coach of the Year Award by the Maxwell Football Club.

The Mustangs have posted an 11-2 record so far this year, capturing their first AAC Championship while going undefeated (8-0) in conference play. The 11 wins are the most by the program since the 1982 National Championship team. The conference championship marks the first outright championship won by SMU in 41 years.

SMU has been dominant all season long on both sides of the ball, ranking in the top 20 in the NCAA in numerous categories.

On offense, both the 528 points scored and 40.6 scoring average rank second highest in program history. The 28 rushing touchdowns are tied for third most in program history. The Mustangs have scored at least 55 points four times this season, the most in program history for a single season.

Defensively, the Mustangs have been one of the best teams in the country this season. The 47 sacks rank second in program history for a single season. That continued in conference play, posting an average margin of victory of 28.9 points (45.9-17.0) in conference games this year, the largest margin for any team in the NCAA in conference play in 2023.

The Mustangs will play in the Wasabi Bowl in Fenway Park in Boston on Dec. 28 at 10 a.m. in a game you can see on ESPN and fuboTV.

Information from SMUMustangs is included in this story.

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