In case Sonny Dykes leaves SMU football for TCU, the Mustangs eye his replacement
With an increasing number of signs reading that SMU will soon lose head football coach Sonny Dykes to TCU, plans are being made to find his replacement.
According to sources, SMU is leaning towards former SMU assistant and current University of Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee if the Mustangs need to replace Dykes.
With the end of the regular season one week away, schools want to be ready to fill head coach vacancies in advance of the early signing day on Dec. 15.
There is a chance, albeit a small one, that Dykes will not leave.
According to a report in The Dallas Morning News, SMU has made a contract offer to Dykes. The offer includes a raise that would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the Group of Five, raises for his assistant coaches and facility upgrades.
This offer has been on the table for weeks, and Dykes has not signed it for a reason.
It is zero secret that among the potential jobs that are available, TCU is the job Dykes desires. He worked at TCU for one year as an offensive analyst and knows, and likes, the job and the administrators.
Lashlee served as Dykes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for two seasons at SMU, from 2018-19.
In his two seasons at SMU, the Mustangs had one of the top offenses in FBS. In separate seasons, quarterbacks Ben Hicks and Shane Buechele thrived under Lashlee.
Lashlee left after the 2019 season to accept the same roles under coach Manny Diaz. in Miami.
The Hurricanes finished 8-3 last season, and ranked 22nd in the final AP Poll. They are 6-5 this season.
A graduate of the University of Arkansas with a Master’s degree from Auburn, Lashlee is one of a few coaches who turned his time with quarterback Mitch Mustain into a college coaching career.
Famously, Mustain is the former quarterback at Arkansas’ Springdale High School. He was the national player of the year in 2005, and he went to the University of Arkansas.
When Mustain enrolled at Arkansas, he took his high school head coach, as well as his quarterbacks coach, with him: Gus Malzahn, and Lashlee.
Malzahn was named the Arkansas offensive coordinator, and Lashlee was hired as a graduate assistant. Lashlee played quarterback at Arkansas.
Malzahn would go on to become the head coach at Auburn, and is the current head coach at Central Florida.
Lashlee worked for one season as a graduate assistant at Arkansas before taking assistant jobs at Auburn, Samford, Arkansas State, a second stint at Auburn, UConn before landing at SMU.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 5:14 PM.
