Everything Rhett Lashlee said ahead of the ACC Championship

SMU Rhett Lashlee spoke to the media ahead of SMU’s game against Clemson in the ACC Championship. Here is everything Coach Lashlee said:

Opening Statement: “Yeah, excited for Championship week, Tuesday. You know, it’s good that we’ve got cold weather here this week so we can practice in it since we’re going to be playing in it. You know, I talked a little bit about it Saturday night after the game, but now I have had a chance to watch [Clemson]. I mean, it’s an exciting matchup, got a great opponent, man. You know, they don’t really have a lot of weaknesses. I know they’re testing themselves out of the gate early. And then, man, they have just gotten better and better each week. The last half of their season schedule was a lot harder than the first. They had to go on some tough road games at Pitt and Virginia Tech. We played Louisville, so we know how good they are. They are almost a broken play, a little bit fluke third and 16 last week away from winning that one and being 10 -2. A complete football team starts with the quarterback on offense. And really at every level on offense, I mean, they’re really well coached on the offensive -line. Got a big-time running back, a thousand-yard rusher, a big-time tight end, and then some really talented young skill players, but I just think it starts with Cade. He’s, I remember him coming out of high school, championship-winning quarterback. He’s tough, he can really spin it, big arm, and he’s really making a lot of plays with his feet. And then defensively, and that’s kind of been the calling card there for the last decade. They’re big up front, really big in the middle, which helps them stop the internal run game. And then excellent pass rushers, really good on third down. They’re really good on third down. And then linebackers that can run, and DBs that cover really well. So kind of a complete team. So it’s going to be a good challenge for us.” 

 On if the team improved throughout the season: “I think so, I hope so. Yeah, and that’s what good teams do. Good teams do two things, in my opinion, because of all the stuff being talked about, who should be in who should. Good teams don’t lose to teams they’re supposed to beat. They haven’t, and we haven’t. I mean, the games they’ve lost were against really good football teams. It’s like, man, either team could win. And the second thing they do is they get better as the season goes on. Particularly, there’s no preseason in college football. And with the transfer portal, it’s a lot different than it used to be. So you look at us, we’re week one against Nevada, week two, okay, then week three, and then we got a bye week, and then we kind of figured out who we were. Usually takes somewhere between two to four games, and there’s no preseason in college football. So, especially when you do like they do, step out and go play someone like Georgia in week one, or we play BYU in week three. Sometimes teams can stumble early, but then credit them the way they have done what I think we’ve done too, just get better and better each week. And that builds confidence.” 

On preparing for a road-like environment in Charlotte: “Yeah, I mean, obviously, Clemson has a great fan base, they travel well. I think we’re going to travel well. But yeah, we’re a little farther than in Clemson from Charlotte. I don’t know, we’re used to it, we’ve played in great environments this year. We played at Louisville, that was a really good environment. There was 100 % against us, right? So we did last year at Tulane, I mean, so Boston College in the bowl game, it just happens. And so maybe one day we’ll play in Dallas or something like that. But we don’t talk too much. I mean, just like when we go on the road, we don’t make it a bigger deal than it is. Maybe that’s why our guys have been successful doing it. If you’re a competitor, you want there to be energy in the building. You want there to be an atmosphere in the stadium. I would think there’s definitely gonna be that Saturday night. So I would think our guys would be excited, just like I think they would be to play in it.” 

On how to win the turnover battle vs. Clemson: “Yeah, I think it starts with Cade offensively. Like I said, they don’t turn the football over. He’s really smart. When stuff’s not there, he’ll throw it away, or he’ll create a lot like Kevin can do for us. And then, you know, Mafah is a really good experience back. He’s big, he’s downhill, he wears on you, and he knows how to hold on to the football. So I think signs of a well-coached team there and then on defense, they’re one of the best. I think they’re number three in the country, but one of the best at creating fumbles. I mean, they tackle the ball well, they punch it out, they rip it out. A lot like Navy has in the past when we play them, you could just tell that their coach to not just get you on the ground but attack the football. And I think they average getting a fumble recovery a game, that’s pretty remarkable. So, you know, it’s like everything else, we got to value the football, play our game, but you know, at times this year, we’ve been really good that way. You know, we’ve taken the ball away and we’ve valued it. And a couple of times we haven’t, we’ve seen how challenging it is to win. So probably a big key in the game.” 

On Brashard preparing for the Clemson defenders trying to strip the ball loose: “I mean, the fact that we’ve played ten-straight power four games. Look, they’re good at that, but we’ve been pretty good at not fumbling it. So, hopefully, who knows if something’s got to give or not? I mean, if you’re running back and you’re running with the football, or you’re a receiver, and you’re running the football, you’re expecting to get tackled and them try to rip the ball out of college football. So, yeah, we’ve got to be very ball-conscious, but we work on that every week. It’s part of our routine. We just got through doing it today, and we can’t let them take it away and get good field position and grab free possessions and prevent us from scoring.”

On how last year’s experience helps prepare for this week: “It probably helps a little. You know what I mean? It’s not the exact same team, but we do have a lot of guys returning who were a part of that and going down to Tulane last year. So, yeah, today was Tuesday, yesterday was Monday, and we’ve not treated them any differently than we have all year and we won’t the rest of the week, you know, so routines are a big deal. And especially when it’s been working for you. So I think it will help maybe early in the game, just not letting the moment be totally new for everybody and we haven’t even experienced. Even Kevin got to start in that game last year. So, um, yeah, you know, your experience could be a positive.” 

On the similarities for preparing for SMU’s first game in the ACC: “Yep, we started with Florida State, who won the league last year and went undefeated, and we’re ending with Clemson, who’s going for what is their 10th or ninth, whatever it is, 10th conference championship. Here we are just showing up on our first. So, um, that’s what we wanted. You know, we wanted to challenge ourselves. We wanted to see where we stood. We wanted to be at this level. We wanted to play on the stage playing in the championship game on national TV ABC, playoffs being decided a week away. And yeah, so I mean, we’re gonna go play free and cut it loose. And our guys have earned the right to be there. We have ultimate respect for Clemson, but this is the stage we want to be on. And after this game is over, no matter what happens, that’s what we want to get back to in the future. So it’s a good opportunity for our program.” 

On finding different ways to get Brashard Smith the ball: “Yeah, I mean, you know, credit Cal, they had a good job. They were loading the box last week. And we, other than one run, we didn’t spit a lot of big runs. But, you know, really good players find other ways to impact the game. And he still had 150; I don’t know what it was. He had 60-something rushing, 60-something receiving, I think, and a couple of touchdowns and he’s a matchup problem. He’s a good player, and defensively, you gotta account for him. I know they’re probably working on that right now, but especially when you lose matchup guys like RJ Maryland and some of those, you need those guys to step up. But he’s an all-purpose player. We haven’t returned as many kickoffs this year intentionally just because he’s become such a focal part of our offense. But I mean, he came into the season a preseason all-conference kick returner for a reason. And he’s still got that. So when you take that ability to catch the ball, to be able to run the ball, I think him and Roger Daniels are kind of two guys that, usually, if you have one guy like that, it’s kind of special when you try to use, we actually have two, and that’s rare. And they are just so versatile in three phases: the return game, they’re catching it and running it. But no, I thought Brashard played well. And like I said, people start to focus on that. I think you’ve seen the last few weeks our outside receivers making their plays and things like that.” 

On the Dallas to SMU and Texas to SMU pipeline: “It’s huge. I mean, for us to get our program to this point and to continue to grow it to the level we want to, we have to be able to recruit all of Texas, and we have to be able to recruit all of Dallas. And that’s what we’ve focused on in the last several years. And I think you’ve seen that’s helped our program grow. We’re Dallas’ team. We’re not one area of Dallas’ team. And those guys have seen the value of coming to SMU and getting an education and having a great career here in Dallas and what that can do for them personally. So tomorrow, being signing day is a big deal. It’s so weird how much signing day has changed. I mean, what is this, 2024?  Just go back eight years to 2016. Everything was, first of all, it was in February, it was all about the buildup to that. ESPN was having a big all-day signing coverage, and, you know, you’d get up at four a.m., you’d look at a fax machine, and, like, now here, what are we doing? Like, my first year here, we’re at a bowl game playing BYU on Wednesday, the signing day, and then I don’t know what we were doing last year. And then, you know, I mean, tomorrow we’re having Wednesday morning championship-week practice, and there’s no fax machine. It just comes in, docusigning. You know what I mean? So it’s a huge day. It’s just kind of weird how now there are two signing periods. There’s kind of only one, but there’s two. And so our recruiting team has done a really good job. We are really excited about this class. It’s our first class in the ACC, even though it really all started and mostly came together before we’d ever played a game in the ACC. But I think it’s big. It was the first class, and now that, coupled with our success, and people have now seen us playing the ACC. As a matter of fact, they don’t see us playing the championship game, so it’s kind of harder to make it any more a reality than that. I think it’ll only help the next class and the next class, but it’s a big deal. We’re gonna be excited. Hopefully, all those guys sign and we can celebrate with them tomorrow after practice and just add a little more juice to championship week.” 

On the offensive line’s improvements since the BYU game: “Well, Garin Justice is the best offensive line coach in America. I’m biased, but I wouldn’t trade him for anybody. And I think the reason being is he has great relationships with those guys. They trust him, and he’s willing to give everybody an opportunity. And I think after that game [BYU], we had a very good idea of what the starting five needed to look like, but also knowing we’re gonna need the sixth, seventh, and eighth guy, and they’re all gonna play. And so I think just like what we did with the quarterback, just being able to settle down, have continuity everywhere. Again, three games in, you kind of have an idea, okay, this is the direction this team needs to go. And let’s start working towards that and know that each week, we could get better and better. And I think the O-line was a big part of that, the consistency. Luckily, we’ve stayed pretty healthy, but even when Savion’s banged up, Chamblee pops in. When Logan can’t go, Ben Sparks pops in, and Nate Anderson has hopped in there. So those top eight guys have really done a nice job of kind of just week-to-week getting comfortable in their roles. I think it’s a big deal, especially in O -line. You know, O-line doesn’t get any credit. You’ve heard it said that they’re the only position group that everyone else on the field needs them. You know, they don’t get a lot of credit, but they’ve all done a good job of getting started in their role.” 

Injury update: “Logan, we anticipated him playing last week. We just went through warmups and Garin just said, man, it just doesn’t seem right. We’ll try to plug in and not plan. We were able to do that. He seems better this week, so he should be available. And of course, we’ve seen Ben’s very available if we need him. Trying to think who else, I think there’s a chance Romello could be available this weekend if we need him. And had him for what, about eight weeks? We didn’t lose anybody in the game last week. So, other than your normal bumps and bruises, now that we’re about to play our 11th straight Power Four game. Everybody feels that way; I’m sure Clemson does, too. So, we’re as healthy as we could wanna be right now, I think, based on the way that the last half of the season’s gone.” 

On what has gone into injury prevention: “Well, yeah, I’m glad you asked that. No, I mean, Shawn Griswold’s amazing. Especially if you think I came in three years ago, first-time head coach, to get a strength coach who’s got 25-plus years of experience. He’s been awesome for me and our staff. The strength staff’s got a bunch of jobs, right? And they touch everybody in your program, especially the players, the most year-round. You’re right; injuries are part of football. We don’t have a lot of soft tissue injuries. We don’t pull on hamstrings, a lot of groins, a lot of those things that can somewhat be prevented. I mean, it still happens sometimes. So, I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. But probably the biggest thing is we’re bigger and stronger than we ever were. You know, when I got back here three years ago, we didn’t want to be a finesse program. We didn’t want to be a program that doesn’t get under heavy bars and lift heavy weights. Like, we’re smart, but it’s football. You have to build mass and muscle mass. He’s done that while keeping them healthy. And then I’d say the biggest thing is we wanted to be a program that’s about finishing. And it’s easy to say we had to go accomplish it. Well, that gets accomplished in the spring, in the winter, the spring, and the summer with how our guys trained and the culture that he and his staff built. We’re 11 -1 in November for the last three years. And I think a large part of that is because of Grizz and his team and how those guys find his program.” 

On the rapid success of the SMU football program: “I’ve not had a moment to sit and reflect on it. I mean, every now and then when you ask a question like that, or someone else does, I’m like, yeah, wow, this is okay. No, I think we just go to work, and we pour into the guys on our roster. Our staff does an excellent job of just making the main thing the main thing. And there’s a lot of things that have to happen. A lot of departments that have to work really hard. But we focus from the inside out. We focus on our guys, the relationships, and the culture, and the stuff that’s gonna win games and gonna sustain winning. And now, I mean, so I haven’t. I mean, it’s been pretty cool for us to realize to some degree, our potential fast. But we’re gonna live in the moment now to see how far this year can go but then also like really just getting started because it’s hard enough to just create and achieve success but then to sustain some whole other conversation. That’ll be our charge after this year. But right now, we’re trying to get as much out of this as we can. No, I really haven’t. I don’t need to. You know, I need to stay as focused in the moment as I can.” 

On whether the latest CFP rankings will have an impact on the team’s mentality: “I don’t think so. But just because whether we’re ranked higher or the same or lower, like the only thing we can control is on Saturday. So, yeah, I think most people and I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I think most people think we’ve earned the right to be in the top 12. But at the end of the day, we don’t know until Sunday. And if we don’t win the game, we do allow that to be a possibility. So we’re not gonna go in worried about that. We’re also not gonna go in thinking that we’ve made it. We’re gonna play this game like we have every other game. I was proud of our guys’ maturity last week because a lot of times once you kind of make it in terms of we clinched it, it’s really easy to have a letdown. We’re playing a really good Cal team that, like I said, every game had been a one-score game. And it’d probably been the best defense we’ve played to that point. And so for them to come out and play the way they did, start fast, and not have a let-down, I thought was a big deal. But it’s no different now. Yes, we’ve made the championship game. That wasn’t our goal. I mean, it was a goal. We wanna go compete and try to win it. And we know it’s gonna be hard. So, I don’t think our guys are in that mode. We definitely aren’t relaxed. We don’t think we haven’t won anything yet, we haven’t made anything yet. And so we’re gonna respect Clemson as our next opponent like we have the last 12. And see if that formula can keep working.” 

On taking pride in the momentum the University has: “Well, a lot of pride in being a part of that. I mean, SMU is a special place. So many people love this place and have poured into it, both time, resources, and just their passions. It was the vision for the university. I mean, the whole point of getting into the ACC wasn’t just for athletic departments because it enhances the profile of our entire university. That’s in 2024, that’s what college football and to some degree, college basketball does for your universities. It’s the flagship branding organization if you will. So when you are on those national stages, like we’re gonna be on Saturday night, you couldn’t ask for a better infomercial for your school. That’s, think about how much branding’s being projected for three or four hours, and you’re not having to pay the crazy rates for it, right? And so, and then on top of it, when you win, people wanna go to winners and be in environments like Ford Stadium was this year, and that helps. So yeah, whether, I don’t know the exact numbers, whether applications are up 40, 50%, that’s a big deal. This is arguably the biggest week at SMU Athletics or for the school, I don’t know, in decades, maybe ever. On Thursday, our volleyball team’s a national seed, hosting the first two rounds of the volleyball NCAA tournament. And then we’ve got soccer hosting an Elite 8 match with the chance to go to the Final Four this weekend. We’ve got basketball playing their first ACC game this weekend. We’re playing in Charlotte, like, it’s a big deal, big time all around, and the athletic program and the university, they work together. And it’s just been pretty cool to see how we’ve been able to help each other.”