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Rhett Lashlee announces SMU will hold open practice, not spring game

On3 imageby:Billy Embody•about 16 hours•

BillyEmbody

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(On3)

SMU will not hold a traditional spring game, head coach Rhett Lashlee announced on Tuesday. The Mustangs will host an open practice at night for fans on Friday, April 25.

Lashlee said SMU will bring in bleachers on the Pettus Practice Fields for the fans to get a good glimpse. He cited the portal as a part of the reason the team is not holding an open to the public game, but that’s not the main reason, he said.

“From the moment we were told we didn’t have to, we weren’t having one,” Lashlee said. “I just didn’t feel the need to make some big announcement. Spring games are interesting, they’re good for your fans. After that, we don’t get a lot out of it, we never have. Even a decade ago when I was at Auburn, we’d have 50,000 people at our spring game. Aside from our fans, we didn’t get a lot out of it, or the TV exposure. When the networks say, hey, you can have a spring game or we can just televise a practice, which is what we’re gonna do then you still get the exposure, but if you’re a coach, injuries. You only get so many practices that day’s usually becomes more of a production than a practice, so you lose a practice.

“The portal is not the only reason. I’ve heard the things have been said, it’s not false. We had people last year at our spring game that started offering our guys stuff, it is what it is, they stayed. You do have issues internally on your team and we got competition going on that’s not gonna be decided by a spring game. We’re not gonna have starters by then and all that. We’d rather get another practice out of it.”

Lashlee wants SMU to get a strong extra practice in rather than do a spring game where he said the team has “lost a day” in the past. He said he expects it to be worthwhile for fans that attend.

“It’ll be competitive, it’ll be spicy,” Lashlee said. “If we’re gonna have an inner squad scrimmage, it’s just different when it’s private versus public. Probably everyone has a little bit different reason and some that are consistent. At the end of the day, the simplest answer is internally, we don’t get a whole lot out of it. There’s more potential downside than there is upside for it.”

A handful of college football programs across the country have called off their spring games, citing different reasons. It remains to be seen what spring game formats will look like for programs with scheduled dates. Michigan held the first spring game open to the public since May 1925. The scrimmages have become a revenue driver, packing stadiums.

On3 is tracking here which Power Four college football programs are calling off their 2025 spring games. SMU is just the latest.

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