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The accolades for Coach Lashlee keep rolling in.

HOUSTON (SMU) – Head coach Rhett Lashlee was named a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award on Thursday.

The winner will be announced on January 10th at the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards Ceremony that will take place in Houston at the Post Oak Hotel.

The finalists and Coach of the Year recipient are voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team, and the Bryant Family.

Lashlee is one of eight coaches who were named, joining David Braun of Northwestern; Jamey Chadwell of Liberty; Kalen DeBoer of Washington; Eliah Drinkwitz of Missouri; Mike Norvell of Florida State and Nick Saban of Alabama and Steve Sarkisian of Texas.

Since 1986, this ceremony has recognized many of college football's all-time greats while raising valuable funds and awareness for the American Heart Association. In addition to recognizing the finalists for and announcing the winner of the Coach of the Year Award, the ceremony will be honoring Coach Lloyd Carr as the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and Olivia and Archie Manning as the Heart of a Champion Award recipients.

This is the first time Lashlee has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious award.

Lashlee has received multiple accolades this postseason as recognition for the stellar job he has done this season. He was named co-Coach of the Year by the Dave Campbell's Texas Football publication, a finalist of the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, and a semi-finalist for Coach of the Year Award by the Maxwell Football Club.

The Mustangs have posted an 11-2 record so far this year, capturing their first AAC Championship while going undefeated (8-0) in conference play. The 11 wins are the most by the program since the 1982 National Championship team. The conference championship marks the first outright championship won by SMU in 41 years.

SMU has been dominant all season long on both sides of the ball, ranking in the top 20 in the NCAA in numerous categories.

On offense, both the 528 points scored and 40.6 scoring average rank second highest in program history. The 28 rushing touchdowns are tied for third most in program history. The Mustangs have scored at least 55 points four times this season, the most in program history for a single season.

Defensively, the Mustangs have been one of the best teams in the country this season. The 47 sacks rank second in program history for a single season. SMU took it to the conference opposition, posting an average margin of victory of 28.9 points (45.9-17.0) in conference games this year, the largest margin for any team in the NCAA in conference play in 2023.

Hope he wins

When Lashlee was hired, my initial thought was this was a great under the radar hire and he has lived up to it and beyond. We are fortunate to have him. He was the reason why we won 10 games in 2019 and now has a chance to tie a school record 12 wins. I am excited to see what he and his staff do with now being a power four school!!


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What a difference a year makes. I'd have to go dig up the thread last year where some posters were already questioning whether Lashlee was a good hire. Might have started after his 1st loss to TCU. Plenty of us were questioning him after the early season losses @ OU and TCU. Hopefully we can win in Boston, have another good recruiting haul and beat TCU next year so everyone will feel good about Lashlee and this staff. We all know that with success there will be turnover and a HC at this level faces plenty of challenges in hiring/retaining quality staff, recruiting and maintaining a quality roster, developing players and team chemistry, game planning and of course keeping fans and alumni happy.

Well deserved recognition for Rhett for his work so far at SMU.

He won't win (I'd give it to Kalen DeBoer), but this is well-deserved recognition for a fantastic job this year by Lashlee and his staff.

He's a finalist for at least 3 COY awards, and if they will give one to Sonny D last year, Lashlee definitely earned it this year!

I stumbled across the Pregame Press Conference for the American CCG on Youtube. First up was Lashlee and he was amazing. Articulate, charming, open in response to questions. Watch it if you haven't. Impressive.