Rhett Lashlee
Followed Sonny Dykes. Rhett Lashlee raised SMU from Regional Program I to National Program I.
In his own words
I thought it was a good first game for the defense
I think [the] first half we played great
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached National Program in his 1st career season — faster than 41% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #1 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
2–3 against his rivals. Just 1–3 against Sonny Dykes.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
5th-best SMU tenure of 18 by the numbers.
Outperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.
Followed Sonny Dykes (2018–2021).
| Season | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 7–6 | 11–3 | 11–3 | 9–4 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | L bowl | L bowl | CFP loss | W bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #82 | #72 | #107 | #31 | #32 | |
| Style — pass rate | ||||||
| Pass rate | 51.0 | 45.5 | 44.9 | 53.5 | 55.3 | |
| Coordinators | ||||||
| OC | Casey Woods | Casey Woods / Jonathan Brewer / Rob Likens | Casey Woods / Garin Justice / Rob Likens | Casey Woods / Garin Justice / Rob Likens | Garin Justice / Rob Likens | |
| DC | Scott Symons | Scott Symons | Maurice Crum Jr. / Scott Symons / Rickey Hunley Jr. | Maurice Crum Jr. / Scott Symons / Rickey Hunley Jr. | Maurice Crum Jr. / Rickey Hunley Jr. | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | 78 | 88 | 67 | 90 | 90 | |
| Defense | 10 | 95 | 97 | 89 | 63 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | 49.2 | 39.6 | 44.5 | 54.1 | 51.1 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 41.1 | 35.0 | 32.8 | 44.2 | 36.8 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 51.1 | 33.3 | 21.6 | 22.9 | — | |
A portal-built roster.
Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
6 NFL Draft picks: Danny Gray (2022), Grant Calcaterra (2022), Rashee Rice (2023), Elijah Roberts (2025), Brashard Smith (2025), Matthew Hibner (2026)
AI Narratives — “SMU's Offseason Moves Raise Starter Risk Concerns” and 14 more on the team page.
Defining games during this era
2024 12-team CFP first-round · Penn State 38, SMU 10Rhett Lashlee
Offensive coordinator across 4 programs, 5 stints, before and after wearing the head-coach hat — every season measured on the same axis, whether he personally ran the unit or someone else did.