There are 2 extremes in the coaching profession.

There’s the hot seat. And hot commodities.

The latter are guys whose stock has risen so high that their names are among the first mentioned every time a major job opens.

These days, nobody’s stock is soaring any higher or faster than SMU’s Rhett Lashlee.

When it comes to hot, he’s the football equivalent of a mid-August afternoon in Texas.
With no air conditioning.

Lashlee is young, still just 41. He’s smart. He’s articulate and photogenic. But most important, he’s won big at a place at which few have since the 1980s. He’s on the verge of taking his team to a conference championship game for the second straight season.

In different conferences.

And he stands a legitimate shot of getting the Mustangs, whose preseason odds were +5000 according to DraftKings sportsbook, into the College Football Playoff with an opening-round bye.

Prior to this season, no Group of 5 team leveling up in competition had started better than 1-1 in its first season as a new power league member. Lashlee’s 13th-ranked team is 6-0 heading into Saturday’s game at Virginia.

It’s a success ignited by a risky, yet decisive quarterback change from incumbent starter Preston Stone to the more dynamic Kevin Jennings many coaches might have been hesitant to make.

With a 3-year record of 27-10 and previous apprenticeships as an offensive coordinator under Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Sonny Dykes at SMU and Manny Diaz at Miami, Lashlee has compiled a resume that would normally allow him to write his ticket if he decided to strike while the iron is hot.

🏈 15 straight league wins extends SMU RECORD
🏈 First time @SMUFB has started at least 6-0 in conference play in back-to-back seasons
🏈 9-1 is best start since 2019 (9-1)
🏈 27-10 under Rhett Lashlee
🏈19-3 in conference under Rhett Lashlee
🏈13-1 in last 14 home games https://t.co/Dnv8mbn53a

— SMU Stats & Info (@SMUStatsInfo) November 17, 2024

The problem, if he is itching to make a move upward on the coaching food chain, is that his timing is off.

Now that Billy Napier has saved his job at Florida, this year’s cycle is shaping up to be a seller’s market.

Unless something unforeseen happens in the next few weeks to set off a domino effect – such as Lincoln Riley leaving Southern Cal for the NFL, Florida State deciding to eat Mike Norvell’s massive buyout or Ryan Day failing to get Ohio State into the Playoff – few if any high-profile opportunities will be available.

All things considered, Lashlee might be better off gambling on himself by staying at least another year at SMU. Even though the Mustangs’ 2025 schedule, at face value, is more challenging than this year’s slate thanks to a trip to Death Valley and a home game against Miami to go along with a nonconference opener date against Baylor.

That is, assuming he’s itching to leave at all.

Unless he’s incredibly motivated to become one of those celebrity coaches who always get gushed over by the crew every Saturday morning on College GameDay or frustrated by the fact that at 9-1 and undefeated in the ACC his team’s only path to the Playoff is likely winning the conference title, there are plenty of legitimate reasons he might want to plant roots and stay put.

For one thing, there’s a lot less pressure to get to the Playoff at SMU than there is with most brand-name programs. And narrow path or not, the odds of getting into the 12-team bracket are still much better in the ACC – especially when the schedule avoids perennial power Clemson – than the SEC or Big Ten.

Take notes, folks ✍️@rhettlashlee on the depth of the ACC. pic.twitter.com/xdXPD9TnJa

— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) November 13, 2024

Lashlee has already become a vocal advocate for his team’s new conference. Last week, he issued an impassioned request for the Playoff Committee that continues to have the Mustangs on the outside looking in on the top 12 to “make it make sense” why upsets of top teams are viewed as a sign of strength in some leagues, but a sign of weakness in the ACC.

The 41-year-old coach shouldn’t be motivated by money, either.

No matter what kind of financial package is dangled in front of him as an incentive to leave, there’s a good chance the movers and shakers around Dallas will have the ability to match or exceed it.

The old joke that SMU doesn’t actually stand for Southern Methodist University, but rather Southern Money University, still holds.

There’s a reason the school agreed to waive 9 years’ worth of media rights revenue for the opportunity to join the ACC last summer. It can afford to do it. SMU reportedly raised upwards of $100 million in the first 7 days after receiving its formal invitation from the conference.

It can easily pass the hat around and raise enough to keep its coach no matter who comes calling to hire him away.

That would be a win-win situation for Lashlee.

Because while a new, extended contract would provide him and his family with long-term security, the hefty buyout that comes with it would also serve as a safety net should he someday go from hot commodity to the hot seat.

And suddenly find himself on the opposite end of the coaching extreme.

Brett Friedlander

Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.