Rhett Lashlee
Rhett Lashlee went 43–17 as a head coach, 2022–2026, at SMU. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–1); by them his record is 42–17. Share
- Record
- 43–17 career
- Seasons
- 5
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jul 9, 1983
- Alma mater
- Arkansas 2006
- Best season
- 2024 11–3, No. 12
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | SMU | 7–6 | T–4th | New Mexico Bowl L | ||
| 2023 | SMU | 11–3 | T–1st | Fenway Bowl L | 22 | |
| 2024 | SMU | 11–3 | 1st | CFP First Round L | 12 | |
| 2025 | SMU | 9–4 | T–2nd | Holiday Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | SMU | 5–1 (Wikipedia: 4–1) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 11 | 5–6 | 45% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Against rivals | 10 | 7–3 | 70% |
| Conference games | 36 | 30–6 | 83% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 19 | 10–9 | 53% |
| At home | 29 | 25–4 | 86% |
| On the road | 27 | 17–10 | 63% |
| At neutral sites | 4 | 1–3 | 25% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 45 | 38–7 | 84% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 15 | 5–10 | 33% |
His own 60 games on file, 2022–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Dykes 2022–2025 | 1–3 | TCU | 4 | |
| Bill O’Brien 2024–2026 | 3–0 | Boston College | 3 | |
| Jeff Brohm 2024–2026 | 2–1 | Louisville | 3 |
Rhett Lashlee’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Collegeseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| TCUseries | 4 | 1–3 |
| Louisvilleseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Stanfordseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Florida Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Tulsaseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Memphisseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| North Texasseries | 2 | 2–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by SMU for the 2022 season from Miami, where he was offensive coordinator. He had a prior connection to the school.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004–05 | Springdale HS (AR) high school | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2006 | Arkansas | Graduate assistant | |
| 2009–10 | Auburn | Graduate assistant | |
| 2011 | Samford | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2012 | Arkansas State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013–16 | Auburn | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2017 | UConn | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2018–19 | SMU | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2020–21 | Miami (FL) | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2022–present | SMU | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Gus MalzahnSpringdale HS (AR), Arkansas State, Auburn
- Houston NuttArkansas
- Gene ChizikAuburn
- Pat SullivanSamford
- John ThompsonArkansas State
- Randy EdsallUConn
- Sonny DykesSMU
- Manny DiazMiami
Assistants who became head coaches
- Casey WoodsMissouri State
- Garin JusticeConcord
Worked under (8)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gus Malzahn | Springdale HS (AR) high school | 2004–05 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Houston Nutt | Arkansas | 2006 | Graduate assistant | |
| Gene Chizik | Auburn | 2009–10 | Graduate assistant | |
| Pat Sullivan | Samford | 2011 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Gus Malzahn | Arkansas State | 2012 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| John Thompson | Arkansas State | 2012 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Gus Malzahn | Auburn | 2013–16 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Randy Edsall | UConn | 2017 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Sonny Dykes | SMU | 2018–19 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Manny Diaz | Miami | 2020–21 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (2)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casey Woods | SMU, 2022–25: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Missouri State | |
| Garin Justice | SMU, 2022–26: assistant head coach and offensive line coach | Concord |
Other assistants under him (6)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Brewer | SMU, 2022: quarterbacks coach; 2023: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Rob Likens | SMU, 2022–26: assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Scott Symons | SMU, 2022–25: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Todd Ivicic | SMU, 2022: quality control coach | |
| Maurice Crum Jr. | SMU, 2023: linebackers coach and running game coordinator; 2024–26: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Rickey Hunley Jr. | SMU, 2024–26: co-defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | State payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | UConn | offensive coordinator in 2017 | $78,803 | ||
| 2017 | UConn | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $184,615 | $350,000 USA Today | $325,043 | |
| 2016 | Auburn | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $190,000 | $601,500 USA Today | ||
| 2015 | Auburn | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $235,000 | $603,500 USA Today | ||
| 2014 | Auburn | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $190,000 | $600,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Connecticut’s state payroll (Open Data Portal): what the state actually paid in the calendar year, salary and special payments together.
Contract pay and the state payroll differ by design: one is the season’s contract, the other what the state paid in a calendar or fiscal year, so a December hire’s short first year, bonuses and camp money paid as special payments, and pay that ran on after he left all show in the payroll.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Lashlee’s teams went for it on 26% of fourth downs and on 50% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 23.3 seconds a play, 2022–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 13 g | 36 of 97 37% | 64% | 53% | 21.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2023 14 g | 29 of 101 29% | 50% | 47% | 23.9 | +0.12 | |
| 2024 14 g | 19 of 93 20% | 39% | 47% | 23.5 | +0.10 | |
| 2025 13 g | 13 of 91 14% | 30% | 56% | 23.9 | +0.10 | |
| 2026 6 g | 13 of 36 36% | 79% | 53% | 24.8 | +0.16 | |
| All 60 g | 110 of 418 26% | 50% | 51% | 23.3 | +0.11 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.