Rhett Lashlee is in a strong and steady retaining mission with the SMU Mustangs, heading to year 2. The visionary head coach took his team to an ACC championship game. Even if they couldn’t sustain a well-organized Clemson, they still managed to qualify for the playoffs before giving it all to the Nittany Lions. But this year, they aren’t going to play smaller. Since taking over the program in 2022, the Mustangs have grown into a silent beast. An 8-0 conference record and a conference game appearance for two consecutive years made Lashlee yearn to have more. Can that culminate in being an ACC leader in the immediate future?
Analyst Cole of the college football addiction gave a major nod. ”There’s an opportunity for Rhett Lashlee, with what the ponies have currently infrastructurally, to not only take over the ACC but become a legitimate force that is a dynamic name that really runs college football, and I think that people don’t understand that when you start to build the culture the way that Lashlee has, there’s an understanding about what type of players you’re looking for and who are the type of names that you believe are necessities to be a part of your team.”
The roster strength, as well as the wisdom to micromanage them in the right way, is a major factor in a program’s success. I mean, imagine Kevin Jennings not taking over as the starting QB after that devastating BYU loss! Yes, SMU might not have looked the same.
Jennings didn’t hesitate to take the reins of the offense when it needed him the most, completing 65 percent of his passes for more than 3,000 yards and accounting for 28 total touchdowns. But heading to 2025, Lashlee added more weapons to support and expand both offense and defense in a wholesome team game.
”They were only a handful of plays away from winning the ACC over Clemson, and they would have been a guaranteed college football playoff regardless of just sneaking their way in as the 11th seed, and this was year one. I truly believe that when you look at what Lashlee’s able to do, how he calls offenses, and what he looks for in terms of directional players in the portal and recruiting, there’s an opportunity for him to become a household name in college football.” Cole continued leveraging the path of success for Rhett Lashlee and the Mustangs.
Lashlee already declared SMU as a transfer destination for players during December’s signing day. He brought a total of 19 high school recruits, 14 FBS transfers, and five junior college transfers, boasting their highest-ever ranked recruiting class ever. However, an ACC domination will also be a potential destiny for the Mustangs, as both their fellow ACC competitors stand at a crossroads over a legal hurdle with the conference.
Mike Norvell gets an unexpected jackpot clause to get out of the ACC
Florida State Seminoles and the ACC are yet to settle the lawsuits, resulting in a functional disposition between the schools (Clemson). For those unversed, the root cause of the dispute was Clemson and FSU both sued the ACC in the past year over matters related to the ACC’s grant of rights. They protested against the financial disparity in the ACC compared to the SEC and Big 10 schools.
After a lot of back and forth, it’s by now clear an FSU wants to leave the jail but without paying up for it. Seems contradictory? Well, not at all. Norvell finds an escape clause of over a $500 million discount over the exit fee. As part of the settlement, the exit fee for any conference members went down from about $700 million to $165 million. Thamel reports that this updated figure “descends by $18 million per year until it’s $75 million in 2030-31 and levels off. The member would leave with their media rights after paying the fee.”
It begs the question: If Norvell pays this much, what will be next for the Seminoles? Is it a new conference? Because SEC and Big Ten had a clear no-no to giving them access. No matter where they land, the path to the top of the ACC is quite clear for Mustangs and Rhett Lashlee.
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