Everything Rhett Lashlee said before SMU faces Boston College

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee met with the media on Tuesday to preview Saturday’s matchup against Boston College. Here’s what he said after the Mustangs had a bye week.

Opening statement: “Alright, good off week, got rested up, healed up best we could. So, excited to be back playing in Ford Stadium this Saturday. Against a winning team, Bill O ‘Brien. Shoot, what can you say about his coaching pedigree, right? He’s coached some of the best players in the NFL. He’s been a head coach in the NFL. He’s been a successful head coach in college. You can see already this year kind of just his fingerprints on that program, just the way they play. 

“They’re tough. They play really good defense. They run the football well on offense. More of an old school NFL offensive approach, which you don’t see as much anymore, so it’s a challenge for people. And like I said, just does a really good job. I think he’s gonna build that into a really good program. So we got to work it out for us. But we’re happy to be at home and get another opportunity on Saturday.”

Obviously, some changes from the team that you faced in the Fenway Bowl. But how much can you draw on that game and what happened in that game to prepare you for this week?

“Not a bit. It’s new teams. They got a new team, I think they’re better this year. We have a new team, I think we’re better this year. They got a brand new coach. Yeah, some of the players are the same. And obviously we didn’t like the outcome of that game. They beat us, but it’s not going to have any bearing on Saturday.”

What are the focuses in a bye week? What did you guys hope to accomplish? What did you do?

“I think late in the season bye weeks are different than earlier in the season bye weeks. So you want to strike that balance, you want to stay sharp. You want to keep your momentum. We did play well our last game out. So you don’t want to lose all that. At the same time, it’s late in the year, we’re beat up, we’re banged up. We had some guys out, we have some guys that if we would have played last week, wouldn’t have played, may have a chance to play this week. So all those things are positives. 

“But we tried to treat it… we got a mature team. We try to treat it with that kind of pro mindset of, we got our work done last week, we were able to work on us a little, get a head start. But more importantly, we’re just trying to get to this week, feeling better. Cuz I mean, this last two or three weeks of the season, it’s gonna come down to depth. Everybody’s beat up, everybody’s got guys out. Who’s the next man up? The guys that are going that aren’t 100%, like how fresh can they feel on Saturday? It’s time to lay it on the line. So it’s gonna come down to depth and toughness. So we did everything we could to get to this week and preferably Saturday feeling as good as we can and still try to stay crisp. Because we did play well last time out.”

Kind of in that vein, when you have Matt Hibner come in, when there’s major injury and you get more chances and you saw what he could do with those chances. How important is that to continuing the success that you guys have had?

“I mean, it’s huge. I mean, having Matt Hibner, it’s a big deal. Credit to Coach Woods and our staff for going out and bringing depth in there. We should get Adam Moore back in the fold this week, which will help. Jake Bailey’s been down, where Junior obviously popped up. I mean, that’s what we went out and tried to do, that’s a good example, but even in the lines and other places, you’re only as good as your depth. And guys are gonna get banged up in football. And so having Matt has been big for our offense. I mean, Matt was playing good in a big part of what we were doing before RJ got hurt, but now we all see he can run a little bit, so it’s good.”

The latest version of the college football playoff rankings will come out tonight. And as of right now, SMU is one of the only teams in the country with four wins over Power Four bowl-eligible teams. What does that say about SMU, the strength of schedule that you guys have and how you’ve accomplished?

“Yeah, well, I mean, I think we’re one of only two teams in the top 16 that have four wins against bowl-eligible teams. I think we’ve got six power four wins. I don’t know if anybody else has more than that. So look, I mean, I think we have a good resume. I think we’ve proven that we belong in the conversation. I’m not gonna worry as much about us and that right now.

“We got to take care of business. If we don’t win, nothing matters. We got three games right now. If we don’t win the next three games, then we don’t really have an argument. But if we do, then I think we’ve earned the right to have an argument.

“I will say this, I do think on behalf of the ACC, I think it is interesting. Yeah, there’s normal brand biases for teams. Not really going to get into that, but there’s conference biases. And I think it’s interesting that you look at the ACC, we have a winning record against the Big Ten this year. We have a winning record against the Big 12 this year. We don’t have a winning record against the SEC but we have four games left. And if we win enough of those, we would have a winning record. So that’s still up in the air. It’s been competitive. And so to look at our league and say, well, we may be a one-bid league. But you look at another league that we have a winning record against and say, they’re gonna get four in. It doesn’t make sense to me. It needs to make it make sense. 

“When other leagues beat each other up internally, they’re considered a deep, solid league. When we beat up internally, we’re considered a weak league, you know. When Kentucky goes and beats Ole Miss, when Arkansas goes and beats Tennessee, when South Carolina goes and beats A&M, when Vandy beats Alabama, that’s considered a deep league.

“When Georgia Tech beats Miami, right? When Louisville goes on the road and beats Clemson, when UVA goes on the road and beats Pitt, we’re not considered a deep league? I think we’re a pretty deep league. And so I just want our league to get the same respect that everyone else gets. And I think we have at least two, probably three or four teams still that should be very well considered for the college football playoff in this league. And it shouldn’t be any different than the Big 10 or the Big 12. Same thing, Big 12, if I’m them, I’m upset too. I’m like, hold on, we got an undefeated, make it make sense. And when the data and the metrics say it should, I think that’s the biggest thing. I think our league has earned the right to be in the conversation. It’s insulting to say, ‘it’s a one-bid league probably, maybe two.’ Yet we’ve got another league that the metrics don’t add up any better, as a matter of fact, worse. And we’re acting like they just got four and it’s done. Make it make sense.”

How do you overcome, it’s things you can’t control, right? The bias?

“Well, you’d like to think all you can do is win. We, in our league, we’re winning just like those other leagues are, so that should count for itself. We’re winning against those other leagues. That should count for something. Look, the great thing about our sport is it’s a human sport. In games, you got coaches, we make mistakes. You got players who make mistakes. You got officials who make mistakes. It’s no different with the committee.

“They got a tough job. There’s a lot of teams that should argue they should belong in, so I’m not discrediting anyone. But I think we’re way too early in the process to start acting like well, this this league gets this and this league gets this, when some of these teams haven’t even beat a ranked team or a team that’s going to a bowl game and yet they’re just like gifted in and s iIt’s a challenge. And look, another year, there may be another league that’s upset. 

“At the end of the day, for SMU, we just gotta win. I’m not gonna gripe or politic for us, we gotta win. If we don’t win, we don’t deserve to be in the conversation. If we do win, we do deserve to be in the conversation. But just as a whole with the league, I don’t know what can be done. I think some of that stuff is predetermined a little bit. That’s the bias we’re talking about. And that’s no disrespect to the other leagues, that’s the problem. It’s hard to stump or argue on behalf of your league without making it sound like you’re being negative. I think the other leagues are great. I think we got four big time leagues in college football. There needs to be quality representation from all four.”

You kind of talk about being tough to draw in SMU’s last game against BC. Do you feel like you can learn anything like not necessarily with the outcome? But do you think this is a measuring stick at all for you guys? And at this point, been in the ACC for a full season?

“I think we won six in a row in the power conference and five in the ACC. I think the measuring stick is, late in the year, does our depth, can it hold on and push us through? Can we find a way to win tough? I mean, all three of our opponents have winning records the last three weeks. The consistency of performance it takes to win week in, week out, and not have a let down. We’ve seen it everywhere, everyone in our league, everyone in the other leagues, you’re gonna have a bad week. 

“It’s just, it’s really hard to get up every week. Our guys have done a good job of that. And we’re gonna have to do a good job of it for the next three weeks. I think that’s the biggest measuring stick. Can we keep chasing our standard? Can we show up? Can we play physical SMU football? Can we play at a high level? Week in, week out as the stakes rise, more so than the who.”

Talked a little bit about how you all hit the transfer portal pretty hard for offensive, defensive line, and how that could help you. We’ve seen that. But for the players individually, you see some of the success stories, like Jonathan Jefferson didn’t really get his shot at Georgia. What is that like for you as a coach to see those guys really living up to what you thought they could be?

“Yeah, no, it’s awesome, you know, whether you’re talking about Johnson Jeffersons and Mike Lockhart’s and, excuse me, you know, you look on the offensive side, look what Brashard Smith’s done. Matt Hibner, we just talked about. Savion Byrd, you know, and on and on and on. I mean, look, it’s like everything else. There’s good and bad to the transfer portal. That’s one of the goods, is sometimes people need to change the scenery. Sometimes, after they’ve been somewhere a couple years, it doesn’t even mean the place didn’t want them. You know, it’s just, hey, get a fresh start. And so to see guys do something with a fresh start, helps themselves, obviously it helps our team. That’s the positives and that’s the stories you want to hear about in college football.”

What have you kind of seen on tape from Castellanos, his development and how he runs it now?

“Yeah, and I think a challenge this week, I think we’ve got to prepare for both of them, just because he’s been banged up. But last year, presented the same problems as he does this year, in that he’s just electric with the ball in his hands. And so, much like Kevin’s extended plays for us this year, you can have him dead to rights, you can cover everybody, have him sewn up and then all of a sudden he squirts out and runs for 20 or extends the play and some guy gets open on scramble drill. 

“And so, or even the QB run game, that stuff is still a challenge. I think what’s changed is, again, I think they run a system that allows them to play quarterback a little better. His quarterback numbers are better. He’s thrown quite a few touchdowns, he’s like 17 touchdown passes, or maybe I got my weeks mixed up. But he’s done better, I think, throwing the football. So there’s that challenge. And then you got Grayson James, who’s from here. All he did is when he got his one start, he won. Last week, he had to come in the game when it was tight, led them on some scoring drives to win. So, and they’re two different guys. And so that creates a challenge to preparing for two different guys. But yeah, I mean, Castellanos is one of the most electric players in our league with the ball in his hands.”

Do you think it’s any benefit that you have a player like SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, that maybe the offense isn’t the exact same between you two, but that there are some elements that you each excel at?

“Yeah, I mean, I think, hopefully, it allows us to present the same problems for their defense that they could present for ours. You know, we don’t run Kevin like a running back as much, but still like, yes, in terms of that. Now, in terms of like our defense, we never let Kevin go live in practice. So that didn’t really help them any.”

Obviously a lot of status changed with Miami losing for this team. And I mean, you take care of what you take care of. But how do you think your team’s prepared for being where they are right now, going into this final month of the season, leading the ACC?

“You know, they know. I mean, shoot, they sit on their phone 24-7. So they know what’s going on. I know after what happened last week, where we were on the stands today. But they also know that whether that happened or not, we have to win. And we haven’t clinched anything, we haven’t done anything. We got a lot of work to do with three weeks to go against three teams with winning records. And so I think they’re handling it well. Like I haven’t noticed anything different in our process Monday yesterday and what we do on a Monday and in today’s practice. It seems like we’re going about our business like we have. 

“And that’s the challenge is that consistency of performance. Can you keep the same process that’s been working for you? Can you not get bored with that? Can you not let those outside distractions be a part of it? Can you not start getting excited about the what ifs? Cuz like, and can you stay present? Like we don’t even need to worry about Saturday. We need to worry about Tuesday. And that’s really hard to do. It’s hard for me to do as an adult. It’s really hard for kids who play football, go to class, or worried about your girlfriend or like whatever else they’re gonna do. And they’re on that stuff all the time and they’re seeing the good and the bad.

“So I think they’ve handled it well. We’re gonna see, right? I mean, one of the things we talked about is we felt like we had a team that could compete. We wanted to prove we belong and we wanted to see where we stood up. How do we measure up? So far we’ve measured up well, but we’re not done. Job’s not finished. I think probably the verdict is still out. Can we, the last three weeks, it’s gonna be the hardest three weeks, cuz a lot’s on the line. We’re playing three good opponents. It’s late in the year. You get tired, mental fatigue, physical fatigue. So I think we’re in a good position, but we gotta go prove it on Saturday that we were handling it well.”

What did you do on your all Saturday? Did you watch much football? Did you stay up all night? Did you check out? How did you spend your time? 

“You really wanna know what I did on my Saturday? So I got back in about 10 o ‘clock Friday night from recruiting. And I got up about eight, which was awesome, sleeping in a little bit. And I instantly had to take my girls on a ride to the donut shop. Then I had to come back and I had to go on a bike ride with them. Not a lot of time to stop and recover. Then my wife took my boys somewhere, they’re too old. They don’t, I’m not cool, they don’t want to hang out with me. Then I, believe it or not, I’m gonna catch a lot for this. I took my girls to get their nails done, cuz that’s a big deal to them. My nails are good, don’t worry. 

“Then I came back, I might have been watching the games on my phone a little bit, and then I would get in trouble for doing that, so I would stop. Got back in time to see the end of the noon games and the beginning of the other games. And then took my wife on a date, so that’s what I did. I watched a little bit of football, but that’s what I did.” 

It’s not a bad Saturday. 

“No, it was not a bad Saturday. I know this, I wasn’t worried about 3rd and 8. It was nice to watch other people struggle, knowing that in seven days it was gonna be me again. So now I’m like four days away from that.”