What was he Thinking: Dec. 18
What a difference five years can make in how a college roster can be shaped. Go back to the 2018 SMU makeup.
At the time, that team was fighting to just make a bowl berth. Then head coach Sonny Dykes had a 5-5 team that needed to only split its last two games against Memphis and Tulsa to become eligible.
The Mustangs lost them both by a total of 13 points and watched the bowl season carry on without them.
But during that season, college football changed forever. On Oct. 15, 2018 players could start putting their names in the new NCAA portal. They could start to be contacted by other schools so they could play elsewhere. Schools couldn’t dictate the future. The athletes could.
And this change benefited SMU’s future immensely. The magical 2019 season – the first 10-win season since the Death Penalty – as players like defensive back Brandon Stephens, who came from UCLA (now with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens) and Tyler Levine from Army’s Preparatory Academy were added.
Now, here we are following the 2023 season and SMU arguably has become a destination location. Players who didn’t believe that they were getting their due at their previous stop now will on The Hilltop.
Blue blood programs can still rely on their history, player development and competing for titles to grow their programs organically with high school recruiting for the most part.
SMU has to do this another way at this juncture. There will always be a place for high school recruiting. But for where SMU is and what it hopes to be in coming seasons, it needs to exploit the portal and have a roster that can stand toe to toe on a weekly basis with Florida State, Duke and Virginia…teams they will be seeing in 2024.
Of course, SMU isn’t the only location that believes it can provide that opportunity.
The portal has turned into DFW or Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta. Lots of traffic. Lots of taking off and landing. Lots of people rushing to get somewhere. Lots of frustration because a chance to get somewhere was missed.
As of Friday, there were more than 1,300 in the portal. But about 200 had found a new program.
SMU can always sell its primary location in Dallas for Texans to return home and play. Now armed with a robust and aggressive NIL program, location and other means were pivotal toward the Mustangs winning the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championship.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee’s relationship with Miami (FL) made an impact on those players coming to Texas. DFW called safety Jonathan McGill home. I won’t go on with listing everybody who came to SMU via the portal to play in 2023. We don’t need regurgitation.
But what this group did do was turn the tide of SMU football. They were pivotal in SMU winning a conference championship. Simply put, they showed SMU could win again after years of misery.
They arrived when SMU’s pursuit of moving up to Power 5 status remained a goal, but nothing suggested it was going to happen. They wanted to play and wanted to win. And at the time, the thinking was SMU may have to settle for being the best on the island of misfit toys.
The flip switched on Sept. 1 to the ACC invite. SMU’s presence in the portal coupled with its NIL partnerships changed. Everything appears to have gone next level.
Watching SMU compete against other P4/5 programs for notable names is now commonplace and no longer a surprise.
Competing for the 2022 portal candidates contained some sprinkling of this program going against name schools. Competing for 2023 portal candidates looks no different than say Arkansas, TCU or Oklahoma State going after similar types of players.
For example, when Miami (DL) defensive lineman Jordan Miller committed to SMU, he was also considering several schools including Purdue.
Now look at what has happened so far this offseason. When SMU locked down Georgia defensive lineman Jonathan Jefferson, the Mustangs jumped past Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, Colorado and Missouri.
Thankfully, the days of fighting off Texas State, Tulsa and Arkansas State are well in the rearview mirror.
The keys to making a program successful through mining the portal and operating the NIL comes down to accurate player evaluations and allocating financial resources the right way instead of waving wads of cash in the air. These two can’t blossom without organization.
The evals for just about everybody who arrived and played in 2023 were dead on. A few still have a way to go. But when Miller accepts an invite to the 99th East-West Shrine Bowl on Feb. 1, 2024, something worked.
Plus, his growth as a player along with SMU’s defensive line made it a selling point to attract Jefferson, Miami’s Jahfari Harvey and West Virginia’s Mike Lockhart. And the Mustangs are in the running for more.
People see success and want to be a part of it and contribute to it. Now, we’ll see how it looks in the P4/5 world next fall.
*****
When the early signing period begins this Wednesday, SMU is expected to announce its 10 2024 high school prospects likely Wednesday afternoon.
The fact that SMU only has 10 high school players for this class is another component to this new era of roster management.
SMU is gradually shifting its focus to the higher rated targets. You can see that more with the 2025 class. This 2024 class is all three stars. And it wasn’t long ago when the two stars outnumbered the three stars.
When you look at the ACC classes, they still have large high school classes arriving. Florida State has 23. Miami (FL) 26. North Carolina 27. NC State and Georgia Tech each have 22. Break those down even more. The Seminoles have 16 four or five stars. Miami and Clemson each have 14. North Carolina has eight.
Then there’s a big drop off within the rest of the league.
Those four schools with the most four stars are the ones who are typically in contention. Obviously, Miami is still trying to get itself back to where it really is a power.
As we’ve seen with the likes of Jefferson, a one-time four-star recruit, a change of scenery could be better for some. Then there are others who peaked in high school and fizzled.
SMU is determined to not be in the rest of the league. But this program is going to have to prove itself. The mixture of the portal and high school fits for where it is now. I view this as a short-term solution.
This program just needs to stay afloat and show that it can compete for the next couple of seasons after it moves beyond July 1, 2024.
With its intentions to be a contender in this league at some point it’s going to have to recruit like Florida State, Clemson, Miami (FL) and North Carolina.
But building the majority of the roster through the high school ranks and growing your players through four or five years – if you can keep the ones who are really contributing – is going to help maintain the foundation. Then what I’d like to see is for SMU to be even more judicious when it comes to the portal.
A Power 4/5 conference season is a grind. Instead of having four gimmes in G5 play, SMU might see one or two. Like it or not, its perception will be viewed as a gimme when it begins next fall.
Whenever that starts to change with wins, upsets and playing meaningful games in November, then the recruiting approach should look different.
Is that in three years? Five years? Ten years? I don’t know.
*****
Now, a look at other SMU sports. Again, we’re pretty slim right now.
> The SMU women’s basketball team (4-5) defeated Louisiana Tech 69-53 on Thursday night in the Thomas Assembly Center.
Three Mustangs scored in double-figures, led by Tiara Young’s 19 points. SMU held Louisiana Tech to 31% shooting from the field, including an 18% clip from behind the arc while forcing 18 turnovers.
Tamia Jones did it all for the Mustangs. The senior guard finished with nine points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. Amirah Abdur-Rahim reached double figures for the fifth time this season with 16 points. She added four rebounds, two steals, and a block.
SMU plays host to Sam Houston State at 7:00 p.m. Monday at Moody Coliseum.
> SMU celebrated the future of Mustang swimming and diving with the dedication of the Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool on December 8, 2023. With the new pool, SMU becomes one of the few prestigious collegiate institutions with both indoor and outdoor 50-meter long-course pools in the same complex, including Texas, Auburn and Tennessee.
The newest addition to the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center was named for the late Holt Hickman ’54, esteemed SMU alumnus and former Mustang swim team member. The facility was made possible by lead gifts to the aquatics complex from the Robson, Lindley and Hickman families and generous contributions from many other SMU donors.
Let’s make it a great week. Pony Up!
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