Rhett Lashlee opens up on links to Arkansas job, position at SMU

SMU coach Rhett Lashlee opened up on being linked to the Arkansas head coaching job and his current position with the Mustangs. Lashlee’s in the middle of his fourth season at SMU, coming off back to back 11-win seasons.

Arkansas, Lashlee’s alma mater, is in the middle of a change after firing Sam Pittman. Interim coach Bobby Petrino will have a chance to win the full time job and become the head coach again, but Arkansas will have other candidates on their minds.

Lashlee already told On The Pony Express that he was happy at SMU and maintained that’s his sole focus. He doubled down Tuesday.

“I don’t stand anywhere on, you know, speculation and hypotheticals, so I’m happy I’ve got a great job,” Lashlee said Tuesday. “I think when your name gets linked to jobs, it means your team has done well, the program has done well. So it’s a compliment to what our staff and administration and players have built over the last three and three plus years, you know? And then a lot of times there’s obvious connections. I mean, if it’s your alma mater, it’s easy to link names, you know, but I haven’t given it any thought, because there hasn’t been anything to give thought to.” 

Lashlee is 31-14 in three-plus seasons, including a 2023 season where they went 11-3 and finished No. 22 in the country as AAC champions. With the move to the ACC last year, SMU fell short to Clemson in the title game but still finished No. 12 in the country and made a College Football Playoff appearance.

But Arkansas has the SEC appeal, likely a treasure trove of NIL money, judging by the investments in basketball, and it’s where Lashlee made his bones before coaching. He knew that the questions would linger until the search is over and he’s the coach in Fayetteville or they hire someone else.

“It’s a great, fair question, but I’m really excited with what we’re building here,” Lashlee said. “I’m not discouraged at all by the fact that we’re sitting here 2-2. You know, I think when you look at it, we’ve got a chance to go 1-0 in the league this year, which would be nine straight conference games to start the ACC. I think what we’ve began to build is really fun. What we can build is even more special. We got an excellent recruiting class that’s freshmen right now. We got a top 25 recruiting class in ‘26 and a lot of guys on this roster that can come back. 

“And so those are the guys that we’re focused on. So, you know, until there’s things to talk about, you don’t talk about them. You know, internally we haven’t said a word about it, because in my world, nothing’s going on. Outside in the world, there’s a lot of that speculation, and that’s part of our business, and it’s probably not going anywhere.”