Latest news with #Lashlee
Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee calls SEC a ‘top-heavy' league
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee isn't quietly entering the 2025 season. He is firing shots. His main target was the Southeastern Conference, a league that views itself as the best in college football. But Lashlee's not so sure the SEC is loaded with quality teams. "The SEC has had the same six schools win the championship since 1964," Lashlee said at ACC Kickoff on Tuesday in Charlotte. "Not a single one has been different since 1964. That's top-heavy to me. That's not depth." Those six programs to collect every title since 1964 were Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. There is one exception: Kentucky shared the 1976 title with Georgia. SMU qualified for a College Football Playoff spot last season ahead of SEC teams like Alabama, South Carolina and Ole Miss. Making it more impressive is that it came in the Mustangs' first season in the ACC. SMU went 8-0 in conference regular-season play, lost to Clemson in the ACC title game and to Penn State in the first-round of the CFP to finish 11-3. Lashlee is bullish on the ACC's accomplishments as a conference. "We have national brands. We've won championships. The revenue is almost double who's fourth," Lashlee said. "We have our own network, the competition, the investment. I just think it speaks for itself. Most people want to see things decided on the field, so let's let it happen that way." Lashlee is among the coaches who want to see the CFP increased to 16 teams. "I think we need to reimagine the College Football Playoff," Lashlee said. "It's at a time where I know that's being discussed. The players and the fans come first. That's what we're supposed to be about. I think more is always better. I know it's out there. I think 16 teams would be great, more access for more teams, more players, more conferences." The Mustangs figured to be one of the top teams in the ACC again this season. One of their returners is star quarterback Kevin Jennings, who passed for 3,245 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and added five rushing scores in 2024. "I think we had a really good season last year," Jennings said. "It didn't end how we wanted it to end, but I think this upcoming year, our end goal is to win it all, win the conference championship. That would be a good season for me." --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Hamilton Spectator
15 hours ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
SMU's successful bid to join ACC leads to playoff berth, record donations
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — SMU bet on itself when it made a bold bid to join the Atlantic Coast Conference — and it has paid off big time. Now the Mustangs are looking build on that momentum in Year 2. The Dallas-based school chose to forego nine years of media-rights distribution simply for the opportunity to move from the American Conference — where it won the conference championship in 2023 — into a Power Four conference. And the Mustangs not only proved they could compete in the conference, but could win at the next level. They ran the ACC table in the regular season finishing 8-0 in conference play under coach Rhett Lashlee to reach the ACC championship game , where they lost to perennial league power Clemson. But it was enough to get SMU into the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. 'I would say it validated a lot of things for us,' Lashlee said Tuesday during the league's preseason media days. 'It validated that we belonged. It validated all of the support from donors and fans. And I think for a lot of the fans that been around for the 30 or 40 years it was vindication.' SMU earned a $4 million payday for the CFP bid, the product of the ACC's 'success initiative' allowing teams to keep money generated by their own postseason success. But equally as important, it helped ignite a level of interest in the program not seen since before the school received the notorious 'death penalty' from the NCAA in 1987 for secret slush-fund payments to players after multiple warnings. The Mustang Club, the fundraising support arm for SMU athletics, had record support by raising more than $65 million in cash gifts from 6,158 donors for the 2025 fiscal year, an increase of $10 million from the previous year. Football season tickets and revenue also reached record highs, with 2024 season tickets doubling from a year earlier, increasing revenue by 157%. Income from concessions, parking and licensing revenue all rose more than 100% after the move to the ACC. Last year, SMU arrived at its first ACC media days after announcing it had surpassed a $125 million fundraising goal since being added to the ACC along with California and Stanford. In an email to The Associated Press, SMU spokeswoman Megan Jacob said first-year undergraduate applications for the fall semester reached more than 24,000 after hovering from 14,000-16,000 going back to 2016. Jacob said the school also had a 63% increase in applications from transfer students for the upcoming semester from a year earlier. 'We didn't just enter the ACC. We confidently announced our arrival,' said Josh Whittenburg, SMU's associate athletic director for development, in a release from the school. 'Nowhere is that more evident than in the generosity of our donors. They saw a need and answered the call. I'm inspired by their commitment, and the growth we've experienced is a direct reflection of their belief in SMU's future.' In an interview with the AP, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips described the deal that brought SMU into the fold alongside California and Stanford — which took seven years of reduced media payouts (about 30%) — as an 'innovative' move. 'It shows you the will of an institution, if you're just talking about SMU, to just want to get a chance to play at the Power Four level, what they're willing to do,' Phillips said. 'I'm not overly surprised at what I witnessed, what the country witnessed. ... You could see that was a school that was thirsty for the opportunity to get to the P-4. And I think you'll see them continue to be really successful, not only in this league but nationally.' SMU's success has also allowed Lashlee and his staff to pave major inroads into the historically strong region of high school football recruiting in Texas known as the Metroplex. 'Arguably year in and year out, the best high school talent comes out of the Metroplex,' Lashlee said. 'So for us to be positioned there as the only school within 30 miles of downtown Dallas is a huge advantage for us. Kids want to stay in Dallas, they want to stay and play in Texas, we just had to give them a reason.' They certainly have it now with the program on the upswing. The Mustangs return Kevin Jennings at quarterback, who said the goal for the school's encore season in the ACC is to win a conference title and a national championship. 'The energy level on campus is crazy,' Jennings said. 'We know what we can do. The sky is the limit.' ___ AP college football: and
USA Today
17 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
SMU's Rhett Lashlee questions SEC football's depth, calls conference 'top-heavy'
The SEC is generally recognized as the preeminent conference in college football, the home of the overwhelming majority of national champions from the past 20 years and some of the most fervently fan bases in the sport. At least one coach sees some holes in the league's resume. SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee took aim at the SEC's depth at ACC media days on July 22, describing the league as 'top-heavy' while noting that only six SEC teams have won the conference since 1964. REQUIRED READING: Big Ten college football power rankings start with Penn State, Ohio State Rhett Lashlee on the SEC: 'The same six schools have won the SEC since 1964. Not a single one is different from 1964. That's top heavy, that's not depth.' The six schools Lashlee referenced are Alabama (24 championships), Georgia (11), LSU (eight), Florida (eight), Tennessee (seven) and Auburn (seven). The number Lashlee cited, though, doesn't include Kentucky, which the SEC credits as a co-conference champion alongside Georgia in 1976. A team from the SEC has won the national championship 13 times since the 2006 season, with five different schools achieving the feat. That figure does not include Texas' 2005 national championship, which came when it was a member of the Big 12 and happened nearly 20 years before it joined the SEC. Conference superiority has emerged as a persistent subject of arguments in college football this century. It has only intensified with the advent of the 12-team College Football Playoff, in which the number of at-large bids a league receives can depend largely on the perception of its strength and competitiveness. Lashlee's team was at the center of the first major debate of the 12-team playoff era, with the Mustangs earning an at-large berth to the event after losing to Clemson in the ACC championship game. SMU got in over several SEC teams — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — that were just below it in the playoff selection committee rankings. During the news conference portion of his appearance at ACC media days, Lashlee touted the ACC, saying it's one of three conferences that has had a current member win a national championship since 1990, with the SEC and Big Ten being the others. Current ACC programs have won seven national championships during that 35-year stretch, though Miami's two titles came while it was competing in the Big East. 'I don't know why that's not talked about more,' Lashlee said. 'We have national brands. We've won championships. The revenue is almost double who's fourth. We have our own network, the competition, the investment. I just think it speaks for itself. Most people want to see things decided on the field, so let's let it happen that way. 'I don't think there's any question that if (the playoff) stayed at 12 (teams), we're every year a multi-bid league. Miami should have been last year at 10-2. There's no question they were one of the top 12 teams in America. But it does get tough, especially when you have a human committee making decisions.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
SMU's Rhett Lashlee Admits the College Football Playoff Made an Error
SMU's Rhett Lashlee Admits the College Football Playoff Made an Error originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The SMU Mustangs made the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff after losing a closely-contested ACC championship against Clemson. However, there was one team Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee says should've gotten in. Advertisement SMU clinched the last spot over Alabama in the playoff, resulting in weeks of debate across college football. Many wondered if more teams meant a more problematic outcome for the Playoff Committee. Lashlee feels SMU and Alabama should've both been included in the postseason. But if that's the case, who gets left behind? 'Well, I felt like we deserved to be in but after we came up short 12 hours before in that ACC championship game with Clemson," Lashlee said in an interview with The Next Round. "I cannot say I felt great with the way it was shaping up to be either us or Alabama, which I'm not sure that's the way it should've shaped up. I think maybe we both should've been in.' Advertisement SMU ended the regular season with a top ten ranking at 11-1. Their only loss was to BYU in non-conference play. But the loss to Clemson was followed by a 38-10 Playoff defeat to Penn State in Happy Valley. Related: SMU Football Faces Backlash After Team GPA Under Rhett Lashlee Surfaces As for Alabama, they will have another chance to prove themselves as a worthy postseason contender in 2025. At 9-3, the late-season loss to Oklahoma killed off any chance of sneaking into the playoff. Under Kalen DeBoer, the Crimson Tide had three wins against ranked opponents, including No. 2 Georgia. Related: Explosive Edge Rusher Hudson Woods Commits to SMU Football SMU hopes to repeat the magic of last year in a wide open ACC. The game to watch will be a title game rematch at Clemson on Oct. 18. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
05-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Two former Auburn coordinators included in USA TODAY's head coach ranking
Two former Auburn coordinators included in USA TODAY's head coach ranking A pair of Malzahn-era coordinators are honored by USA TODAY Sports after leading their teams to the College Football Playoff last season. Auburn football has a respectable track record when it comes to producing college head coaches. Coaches such as Tommy Bowden, Jimbo Fisher, and Will Muschamp all spent time at Auburn before leaving to lead other programs. The trend remains alive today as two of the nation's best head coaches were once offensive coordinators for the Auburn Tigers. USA TODAY Sports college football reporters Blake Toppmeyer, Paul Myerberg, and Jordan Mendoza recently ranked the best college football head coaches ahead of the 2025 season, and two former Auburn coordinators made the cut. Rhett Lashlee grabs the No. 22 slot after leading SMU to the College Football Playoff in 2024. USA TODAY credited Lashlee for navigating the Mustangs into a smooth transition from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC in one season, and for his ability to lead SMU to "a level of relevance not seen since its rule-flouting Pony Express days." Lashlee joined Auburn's coaching staff as Gus Malzahn's first offensive coordinator in 2013, and stayed with the program until the 2016 season, when he left Auburn to become the offensive coordinator at UConn. Lashlee's most memorable season was in 2013 when he played a role in leading Auburn to the BCS National Championship Game. Auburn running back Tre Mason led the SEC in rushing with 1,816 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns. Auburn's offense ranked No. 2 in the SEC that season behind Texas A&M by posting 501 yards per game. Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham just missed the top 25 but was included as an honorable mention. Dillingham made one of the sports' biggest turnarounds in 2024 by leading the Sun Devils to an 11-3 record, a Big 12 title, and a College Football Playoff appearance. Dillingham spent one season at Auburn, serving as offensive coordinator during the 2019 season. Auburn's offense, which featured true freshman Bo Nix, finished No. 6 in the SEC by averaging 408.6 yards per game. That season, Nix finished No. 6 in passing yards behind key names such as Joe Burrow, Kyle Trask, and Tua Tagovailoa with 2,542 yards and in touchdowns with 16. Steve Sarkisian of Texas, Kalen DeBoer of Alabama, and Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss all made the top-25 list, with Georgia's Kirby Smart taking the top spot. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
