Among the three new schools that will begin Atlantic Coast Conference competition this fall is SMU.
The ACC officially welcomed SMU, Cal and Stanford to the league at the outset of this month, and members of the SMU football program met with the media Monday as the 2024 ACC Football Kickoff got underway in Charlotte.
July 1 marked SMU’s first official day in the ACC.
“Just an exciting time at SMU,” head football coach Rhett Lashlee said. “We have so much momentum behind our program. We feel like we belong at this level. We’re excited and humbled to be here back on the national stage where our program has been before.”
Lashlee knows that transitioning to the ACC is no small task for his program, but at the same time, he believes in his team and is confident the Mustangs will be able to compete.
“I like our team,” Lashlee said. “I feel like we have a team that’s going to compete very, very well. We’re excited to get out there and really just see where we stand.”
“We do feel like we earned our way to this opportunity,” he added. “We understand it’s a different opportunity. We’re moving up in weight class. To play 10 straight power games, we haven’t done that in almost 30 years at our program. There’s going to be some changes there.”
Lashlee has posted an 18-9 record in his first two seasons at SMU. In 2023, the Mustangs went 11-3 and beat Tulane to win the American Athletic Championship. Despite falling to now-ACC-foe Boston College in the Fenway Bowl, SMU finished No. 22 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Lashlee’s squad will be tested early on in 2024, as the Mustangs’ first two ACC games will come against the teams that played for the conference title last season – at home against reigning champ Florida State on Sept. 28, and on the road against Louisville on Oct. 5.
“Like I said earlier, I feel confident we have a team that’s going to compete,” Lashlee said. “What does that look like? I don’t know. We’re excited to get out and see where we stand. Nothing better than the first two games, two teams that played for the championship last year, Florida State and Louisville.
“I do think there’s also a level to understanding what got us here and understanding our identity. You’re always evolving. We have a veteran team coming back. We have a lot of guys who were on the team that know what it takes to win a championship and to win a lot of close games and to win at the level we were last year. I think that will serve us really well in this transition.”
Lashlee said “it means a lot to our program” and “means a whole lot to our school” to join a Power Four conference in the ACC, and he noted the “rich history and tradition” SMU has as a program that won 11 conference titles and three national titles in the past as a member of the Southwest Conference.
Now, as SMU embarks on the first campaign in its new league, Lashlee believes the Mustangs will “gain a lot from being in this conference” — and also “add a lot of value to the conference, as well.”
“I don’t think there’s any question our school, and we believe our program right in the heart of Dallas, belongs on the national stage. We’re humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be back,” Lashlee said.
“It means a lot for our team, our players, to do it in a way we did. In the last five years nobody has won more games in the state of Texas than SMU football, won a conference championship, finished ranked last season. So we feel like we’re coming in on a high note.”
–Photo courtesy of Nell Redmond/ACC
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