SMU will lean on Texas high school recruiting footprint in move to ACC: Buck's Ballpark
DALLAS, TEXAS - SMU’s football team is about to enter through the golden doors and into the exclusive club of the Power Five.
The Mustangs, however, aren’t thinking about that just yet. They want to go into their new home riding tons of momentum in the conference they’re playing in right now.
SMU successfully began its final season as a member of the American Athletic Conference with a workmanlike 34-16 win last Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium against Charlotte.
In a college football world dominated by realignment, SMU made a shocking move several weeks ago, gaining membership into the Atlantic Coast Conference effective next year. Never mind that if you travel Interstate 20 out of Dallas, you have to go through four states before entering a state that actually borders the Atlantic Ocean.
The most important thing for the Mustangs, though, is that they are finally in that exclusive club, that of being a Power Five member and the perks that go along with it. They saw fellow in-state schools like Baylor, TCU and Houston gain that privilege.
And now it’s SMU's turn.
But for second-year head coach Rhett Lashlee, it’s about the present. To him and his staff, there’s no transition period, no counting down the days before they join the ACC.
As far as Lashlee and the Mustangs are concerned, they want to make a favorable impression in the conference they’re in right now.
“Well there’s no transition for us right now, not in football,” Lashlee said following the Charlotte win. “Not me, and not the players. We’ve handled it by obviously having a really tough non-conference slate and our goal, well before any of that stuff happened, was to try to put ourselves to compete in the American, which is a really good league, and we would love to see if we can put ourselves in contention down the stretch.
“There’s no transition happening for us right now; we’re proud members of the American this season and we really have a lot of respect for (American commissioner) Mike Aresco and our league and the teams in our league and the coaches in our league, and we want to go out and compete and see how we can stack up against the good teams in our league, so we’re not there yet.”
SMU head football coach Rhett Lashlee addresses the media following the Mustangs' 34-16 win against Charlotte on Sept. 30, 2023.
But if there’s one thing that has Lashlee enthused as the Mustangs get set to embark into ACC waters, it’s that recruiting has been going solid. Especially in their home state.
They already have secured nine commitments from the Class of 2024, six of them Texas natives, including DeSoto linebacker Brandon Booker, Duncanville safety Ka’Davion Dotson and Red Oak linebacker Zach Smith.
But it’s the Class of 2025 that may also have Mustang fans salivating.
They have commitments from the Tyler Chapel Hill offensive tandem of Rickey Stewart and Demetrius Brisbon. They also have a commitment from four-star receiver Daylon Singleton from DeSoto and quarterback Keelon Russell of Duncanville.
“I think it’s been good,” Lashlee said of the Mustangs’ recruiting efforts. “We’ve had a couple of ’24 kids commit, and I think there’s a couple more that probably will soon, we’ll see. I think you look at our ’25 class; I think we’ve had three or four guys commit since the last month, so I think the future of our program and where everybody sees it potentially going is helpful.
“I also think the more we can compete and win will help, but there’s a lot of guys that are really interested in coming to SMU and playing football, and hopefully, that will continue.”
Prospective players themselves see the potential SMU has. Russell, for instance, who previously made himself right at home at Ford Stadium with a strong performance in Duncanville’s season-opening win against South Oak Cliff, throwing for 380 yards and four TDs in a 34-14 win.
“Just knowing what’s fixing to be built there in the next few years (is enticing),” Russell said. “The relationship on and off the field with the coaches for sure (was a selling point), and (I’m) ready for them to develop me.”
Russell isn’t also fazed by the Mustangs being the only team in the Central Time Zone in their future league. Or the long trips to both coasts, as the ACC also landed Pac-12 refugees California and Stanford.
“I was surprised (with the ACC move), but I’m more on the excited side,” he said.
Come to think of it, SMU already is sort of prepping for its ACC move. The Mustangs opened American play by taking on a team from the heart of Tobacco Road.
After being off this week, the Mustangs then go on a two-game road swing in states that already have ACC members in North Carolina (facing East Carolina) and Pennsylvania (Temple).
For the Mustangs, their future is now. They’re ready to make one final impression in their current league.
“Conference play, we’re just going to have to show up every week, show up every week,” senior tailback Jaylan Knighton said. “It’s not like you can’t take on anybody thinking, ‘Oh, this team’s easy.’ No team is going to be easy, everybody’s going to come to play, so it’s just like we’ve got to make sure we’re doing our jobs so that we can come out successful.
“But how we feel about conference play is we’ve just got to dominate every week, fix the errors and get right.”
So the Atlantic can wait for another year.
The Mustangs want an American championship, and maybe add a few more in-state recruits to the fold before Lashlee and his staff can really start focusing on making the transition.
Photo of Duncanville QB Keelon Russell by Michael Horbovetz
-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveTX
