Rhett Lashlee: SMU ready to 'have some fun' with Pony Express weekend
SMU Football is gearing up for the biggest recruiting weekend since the Pony Express days, which is why Rhett Lashlee and his staff tabbed this official visit weekend the “Pony Express Weekend.”
Numerous Top 100 prospects arrive on Friday for the weekend, which is now expected to be the program’s signature recruiting weekend.
“We’re going to sell the city of Dallas and have some fun,” Lashlee told On3’s Steve Wiltfong on Thursday. “Within the rules we’ll do some games, some different stuff. All the guys have been on campus at least once, twice, three, four times and have seen the academics and this and that. We’ll go in the new facility we move into in three months. They’ll see that 70, 80 days away from completion. We’re going to create some fun.”
With Lashlee’s past experience with big-time recruiting weekends, it inspired him. Toss in SMU’s Life After Ball program, the new Garry Weber EndZone Complex nearing completion, an AAC Championship and a move to the ACC, it’s shaping up to be a big recruiting weekend.
“We’re able to recruit a different caliber of player now that we’re in the ACC, being in Dallas, having won a championship and the new facility and all that timing up and we’re trying to capitalize on that momentum,” Lashlee said. “This is the state of Dallas. Those counties in Dallas, how do we get those guys to buy in and stay together? We can compete for championships now that we’re in the ACC. There’s no reason we can’t compete for ACC championships and the College Football Playoff if the right guys come here.”
The Mustangs welcome 24 official visitors fresh off a weekend that saw the program land one commit already. With plenty to sell, SMU’s looking to improve on its already impressive recruiting haul.
Click HERE for the full list of recruits visiting and intel around SMU’s chances.
SMU is coming off an 11-win season and winning the American Athletic Conference Championship. Now ACC bound, it’s weekends like this that the Mustangs can secure a bright future as a Power Four program.
