SMU Preview w/ Rhett Lashlee

Intro [Music] [Music] happy football season everybody and welcome in to the gramlick and mclan podcast presented by Eng Les the official Supermarket of gramlick and mlan and welcome SMU welome welcome the Mustangs into the ACC and into the GRL and mlan podcast World we've done a few kind of things about SMU but Mac we're really excited for this episode specifically well I mean at this point we are full-fledged Mustangs I mean Pony up let's go baby we're all the way in and uh we're continuing this series as you guys have been along this journey with us and now we're we're talking about the Mustangs here in SMU and love this conversation with Coach Lashley uh was super real with us I think was actually one of our last interview so he he got pretty late uh in the season and actually right before I think we touched on a little bit had some massive recruits uh commit to him literally the day that we were doing this we had to push back a couple of times because these commitments just kept popping up so the energy the excitement the football team kg is on the rise and it's a it's a lot of fun to cover all of this for sure and I think there's going to be a lot of excitement about SMU what they can do year one that's the big question we'll talk about their win total at seven and a half after our interview with Coach Lashley but just you could tell his confidence as a guy who's been in the power five who's been in the ACC with Miami for a long time he's got a lot of Miami transfers on this roster as we will discuss um so last year of course they go 11 and three eight no in the American their three losses were to Oklahoma TCU and Boston College in the bowl game without Preston Stone who was hurt Preston stone is back according to all sources and should be good to go so it's really just fascinating to see what happens to see what happens when a team transitions from the group of five quote unquote to the power whatever we have now power four and how much confidence can we put in a team doing that that's really the big question yeah no question about it coach Lashley does a great job answering it so let's get to that uh quickly a message from our great friends over at Eng Les guys if you have been following me all summer long we're pushing the content all right we've got a lot of great stuff on the grill and it's all thanks to our friend over at Engles so real quick a message from them and then let's talk to coach at Eng Les we know your closest companions are the ones who are always there for you the ones you trust to have your back no matter what who make the hard times a little softer and the good ones somehow a little better that's what family is all about whether they walk on two legs or four Les all the ingredients for family Summer coach Lashley brother great to see you uh welcome to the podcast I know summer is off and sprinting and there's a lot of momentum in a lot of different places we'll touch on that first uh but just want to see how you're doing how's summer going and any nonf football related things coming down the pipe Summer's going great uh you know it's been busy um typically June's really busy for us anyways and then uh the last week has just been incredibly busy for us recruiting a lot of good things we had the July 1st celebration that you were a part of to officially join the ACC and um and shoot we start fall camp in three weeks so uh Summer's started almost gone uh but yeah uh you know after the Fourth of July uh my wife and I are going to get to get away for about a week and then and we come back in and we start getting ready for the season yeah get ready to roll coach and you know you've had a lot of experience Joining the ACC at the power five level power four I guess now um and of course in ACC when you were with Miami what was your reaction when you heard okay smu's joining the ACC and how have you seen this this community rally I mean so much money rais the ACC Readiness fund all that but what what was your reaction to that man it's just exciting I mean it's kind of crazy so I got hired and the day I got hired like I I met the team at like 8 or 9 A.M and by 11 o'clock I was sitting in a guy named Gary Weber's office and we were asking him for $50 million and I was like you know okay and um and he gave it to us shortly thereafter which allowed us to start our facility our new end zzone facility that we move into in about a month and then so before I had ever coached the game that happened and then you know we had our first season and then you know we're sitting here uh you know really about the time I got hired David Miller became our board chair and and it was a big Push by him and Rick Hart and our president Dr Turner to to Really push SMU to the power level where we felt like we could belong and we didn't really know where obviously the Pack 12 stuff happened the Big 12 but deep down we always thought the ACC was the best fit and the reason being it's just SMU the the university fits a lot of the ACC schools you know good history and tradition in athletics but also a very good academic institution those things are important to us here and then we just felt like you know we would be the only school in the state of Texas which gives us a unique Niche for being in the ACC but also allows the entire ACC to come into Texas and so we were kind of hoping for that to be honest with you even though for a while it looked like we'd be going Pack 12 and then I'll never forget the it's 6:43 a.m. on Friday morning the 1 by the way our first game was the next day against latch our our season opening game we knew the vote was going down at 6 Central St Eastern and at 6:43 my phone buzzed and I looked and David Miller had sent me a text we're in with like 10 exclamation points and uh it was just it was a CRP feeling because when I took the job there was a lot of hope that the facility and the conference and everything would happen this way and for it to happen and we won a championship a year ago for it to all happen in the first two years is kind of surreal um and then shortly after that day though I started realizing okay this is probably the best day in the last 40 years at SMU I don't need to be the guy who goes out and blows the game against latch so let's go get to work on that make it happen don't don't make Bitter Sweet um well I know you guys are excited players are excited Administration uh what I was interested to see was just the the fans and brother they showed up you referenced it we were just there the other week uh and seeing that inperson 100 years old to 18 everybody in between was there and was Juiced up out of their mind I mean it literally is the entire SMU family and how excited they are about this move yeah they are I mean I think again there there's a generational gap of fans right that from the time that we got the death penalty in the late 80s to really started winning football games again in 2010 there's like a 20e gap it it just wasn't good and so I think there's a gap there but now we've won enough over the last 15 years that there's a younger generation of fans and we've rebranded with the triple D in the city of Dallas but then you got the older generation of fans who has kind of been longsuffering through this process and I I think what's really cool and I said this the other day on the deal I think there's such a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation for this moment because it was almost like the entire fan base the entire SMU family if you will just been waiting for this moment for so long for 29 years now because we had it we were in the Southwest Conference we've won 11 Southwest conference championships that used to be one of the best conferences if not the best in the country and then we lost it and so I just think you know we've been winning the last five years we won a championship a lot of positives but this was the last thing that to me just kind of broke the dam if you will to allow our fan base to kind of just be fully revived or revitalized and and so now they're just so grateful and hungry that I think we're going to get our best yeah and it's not just showing up it's not just being loud I mean it's it's putting dollars to the pen to paper too I mean they're fully supporting and it's been amazing to see that you got to have it you got to have it in a lot of different facets about this game um yeah but let's jump into your team man let's talk about the field because I see some of those guys you and I have talked so much about everybody and we're Juiced up let's start with quarterback and seeing Preston the other day Preston Stone uh he's healthy he looks fantastic he was just at the Manning Passing Academy uh that dude went on an absolute tear to finish the season had a great season overall but the way he finished fortunately injury cut it off but I think it was 16 to one touchdown to interception H how can he even improve on that and what do you expect from him this coming fall yeah you know I mean it was really cool to see because he was going to be a first-time starter as a as a is a high school recruited quarterback we had gone four straight years with some good transfers with with Shane Belle and Tanner morai and but it was kind of like his moment and we kind of knew we were going to grow through some of that development with him last year and I think the first four or five games you saw some good and bad and then around game five or six he just really settled in and man to your point he was playing EX excellent down the stretch you know we beat Memphis on the road he was lights out in that game particularly in the second half and then we played Navy at home the game he got hurt and he was just almost perfect in that game playing his best of the year and then he got hurt and so um you know it'll be good to see if he can get back obviously to that same form healthy be bigger be more durable he's yet to play a full season healthy but then so we're super excited about Preston you know I just think he's in a great place mentally physically uh and a lot of confidence but then you know Kevin Jennings who we had we felt like going into last year we had two starting quarterbacks and for him to step in and start his first career game as the conference Championship Game on the road at two lane who at that time had pretty good streak going and to just play lights out I mean you can tell how much our team believes in him as well and so we we really feel like we have two championship level starting quarterbacks and um you know that's a really good situation for the Mustangs yeah and Running Backs that's going to be kind of a theme with some of these position groups coaches you have quite a few pieces in each of these groups let's talk about these running backs you hear kind of two-headed monster sometimes um we're talking three-headed monster here with SMU with some of these guys and and just kind of what they combin to do what do you expect from all three of them but also how do you handle that to have three guys really go out there well look I'm not saying we've arrived at this point but you you you hope you get your program to where there's so much competition at every position it brings out the best in everyone and in this world of the transfer and all that that's hard you know but our guys in the first two years and going into this year have really embraced competition as a big core value of what we are and we've learned to compete with each other not against each other and there's a difference in that whether it's offense defense or positionally so what I expect at running back is those guys to compete their tails off to see who's rb1 and you know to your point you can have kind of a feature back or two guys that carry the bulk of the load when you start getting to three and four it's tough but at the same time you you know other sometimes guys have different strengths sometimes the guys better on the goal line short yardage some guys are more of a home run guy or I mean look it's running back injuries happen and last year those guys were banged up off and on so I think we're going to have great competition I think we got three or four guys who are all capable of winning the starting job and I don't know how often you say that now the biggest thing is who can reach their potential and raise their level to the top and and take it and run with it right and I think you know quite frankly whether it was injury or necessity or just by by Design you got them the ball I mean you rotated those guys I mean you're talking about having three that had heavy amount of carries and your quarterback had 60 carries as well and so you know you're running it and you're getting guys involved now you're even adding two more to that uh when you look at what you know uh brashard was able to do at Miami brashard Smith and a true freshman that I've been hearing all these whispers about not trying to give away secrets I'm sorry but I'm hearing it it's on Twitter uh of Derek It's gotta be true that's right you know of those guys that are probably listed as receivers but also have carried The Rock in in in their time so again don't give me the game plan but how excited are you to have two kind of Swiss Army knives one very proven what he did at Miami and another from the high school ranks that can take on a lot we're really excited you I look at it to your point last year sometimes the running backs being able to split the carries keeps them fresh throughout the year but you got a Jaylen Knighton who you know from the league at Miami who still had over 700 yards last year I think again and and then LJ Johnson who when he was healthy last year is a really downhill grinder back like him and and jayen really kind of compliment each other well and then you add in a guy like Rashard Smith who I was fortunate to coach as a freshman we played him more at slot but we kind of moved him around as a freshman and then the last years he's played slot but I mean you saw the little bit of running back he did last year he's to me a real versatile guy because he could be an every down running back and he could be a receiver he's an elite return guy so he may develop into a touch guy like just you know you look at a guy like Debo Samuel who plays for the 49ers how many different ways they get him the football um because 10 or 15 Touches for him could go a long way and so and then the Freshman you know you never know a freshman you see how they come along does he get into the mix this year or is he on teams where he helps you but then next year he's ready to go but we are excited about during the fall as well yeah and real quick KY because you brought this up and I'm always fascinated you're you're such a a great offensive mind and think about these things if he turns into that for you obviously he wasn't Miami but if he turns into that for you with brash how do you do you mark I mean you have somebody tracking it like oh hey this guy only has nine touches we got to get him more track that or what is it feel how do you do that I do I mean you hope your offense gets the guys the ball on the flow but look I think and I learned this from Gus I I think one of the best things about coaches it's it's players over plays and how do you get your guys the ball doing what they do best so like for us rule number one is we're going to build it around our quarterback and what he does best period into sentence everybody has to adjust to that but then after that you know what does this guy do at wide out what is this Titan what is this running back what what's your o line great hey this side's our double team side this side's our stretch side I mean it's not always that way but you know in key moments you got to know that as a coach um so yeah there are certain guys over the years and and hopefully we have a couple this year that weren't being on the call sheet as touch guys and it's like look after the first quarter somebody needs to tell me at halftime like if we get to this point and this guy's not touched the ball x amount of times that's bad coaching someone needs to let me know that so we can do that and so that's the fun part of building an offenses this is what we do but okay within that how do we get everybody getting the ball doing what they do at a high level as much as we can feel like one of those guys might be RJ Maryland who's coming off a really good year needs to have another great RJ Maryland year and what I like about him and and we've talked about this coaches I'm from Texas I understand the Texas High School Football I understand what it means when you played at South Peril I get that um and so he's a guy that I think you can exploit a lot in Texas but tell me more about RJ and and maybe go into that too about what it means to be in the DFW area yeah well RJ's a stud uh you know obviously played for Riley Dodge at South Lake Carrol who's the son of the former great Todd Dodge like two of the best High School coaches there's ever been and Riley's doing a fantastic job at South Lake um RJ's special I mean his dad was a first round pick of the entire NFL draft you know that's hard to do uh and I don't think R.J even knew that till he was like 16 or something which was crazy I'm like how did you not ask and his dad's so cool Russell don't tell anybody that but um you know R.J special because R.J was a wide out in high school but you could tell his body was going to grow into one of those just athletic Travis Kelce type tight ends and so you know in our first two years he's been our most consistent producer and um I think he's a Difference Maker because he can absolutely run like any receiver in this league he's got size he can he has great hands he's versatile enough you can put him in the Box attach him Flex him out in the slot put him outside you can do just about anything with him and you know had some good guys here in the past Colin granson playing in the NFL had you know Brevin Jordan and will mallerie at Miami he is every but as good as those guys and he's faster than all of them so um he's just he's a playmaker so to your point he's a matchup problem for us in a good way that we need to get him involved early and often as much as we can yeah man I love to hear that love a good tight end man it's just what they can do you know for your off and their mismatch problems I mean that's what we look for right one-on on how can I get this guy against a favorable matchup move him around do all those things tight end is kind of having a rebirth quite frankly uh right now with how guys are using them let's talk over and guys guys that are versatile like him allow us to play fast because we can be from empty to 11 personnel to a 12 picture to a 10 pck like they give us great versatility yeah because he can play receiver me you don't need to to swap somebody out I totally get what you mean there looking at your o line coach this is I think where the average fan or or somebody that maybe is a little bit far removed from the situation will look at SMU and say okay this is going to be a struggle point when you jump from G5 to P4 P5 that's where you see some some changes that's where you see some things but you feel really confident about this team and after I saw him lift the other day I feel really confident about this offensive line you brought in some guys you brought in some tackles maybe got a little longer at different places uh but tell me what you think about this offensive line season it's a good point I think offensive line will be a key I mean they're the engine to any offense anyways um I think they're going to be a key for us not just because we're going into the ACC and moving up I so last year we had a really good line I mean we had we had the best G5 line I think we had a really good line for a P5 league and we had six guys make first second or third Team all conference in our league six we only play with five and so you know the way Garren was able to rotate him and and you know we we really lost one guy to graduation uh hron White who' come in and play right tackle we lost another uh starter and Branson Hickman who played a lot of games at Center decided after he graduated to go play his last year at OU and then you know Marcus Bryant left who was going to be a good six seventh guy but we got a lot coming back it's just going to be like I think we have a chance to be better and more athletic but we are Maybe not as experienced and so how quickly do we gel you know I think Justin Osborne was our best lineman last year he's moving to Center I think he could be a big time NFL Center so does Garren well how quickly does he adapt to being that guy um I think our guards Will Be steady Logan par returns started last year jakai Clark former Miami guy can play guard and back up at Center I think we're more athletic at tackle it's just how quickly do those guys come on PJ Williams at left tackle was winning the starting tackle job by the end of the year last year at left tackle and he was one of those guys who didn't start the year as a starter by the end of the year was an allconference player and then we got Savon bird and Andrew shamble two transfers one from Oklahoma and Savon bird is super athletic Andrew Shan B started eight games in the SEC as a red shirt fleshman last year at Arkansas like those guys battling out for right tackle I think it has the potential to come together and to be even better than last year but you know potential means you haven't done it and so how quickly those guys can gel and be really solid unit I think gives us a chance to uh maybe exceed expectations coach we are both offensive minded people actually all three of us not you um but and we will talk defense Offense we promise but we have to talk about this stat and I know you got you track everything you guys were scoring 12 points per first quarter which is crazy number one of the country where does that mentality come from like is this something that your players know like we want to get X we want to start here how does that work yeah I mean look we we we we talk a lot about we want to start fast and we want to finish like everybody in the country um you know last year's team just had the ability I mean we're aggressive our coaches do a great job game planning offensively uh of trying to be aggressive we take the ball I don't care about all the analytics stuff if we win the toss we're taking the ball unless it's a monsoon because if I'm supposed to win I want to score first and if I'm not supposed to win I want to score first I don't want to give you a chance to score first it makes no sense and these analytic people tell me well 53% % of the time if you defer blah blah blah but then they turn around and say 70 something per of the people that scor touchdown first win I'm like so you know that helps I want the ball early I want to get in the game I want to go score I'll let someone else figure out the second half um but I just think last year's team they just they had that ability to be loose and ready to play you know in some years you have a team that takes a minute to settle in and and they just started fast last year and it was crazy we saw that stat late in the year that we were outscoring our opponents in the first quarter by some crazy number we were also playing really good defense early and that got us the ball back more and so uh we'd sure be great with that continuing this year that's right no question uh I mean h how do you what what is the way to replicate that I mean is it just constantly ping in the guys heads what is it we don't overdo it we're not like trying to brainwash people but I think you get what you emphasize so if you come to our practice you know we're going to stretch and do our kicking at the beginning because we want to emphasize teams so we don't like do some at the beginning and some in the middle like most we do it all at the beginning so we get done stretching we got 15 minutes to 20 minutes of special teams that's how we start practice but then the very first thing we do before we go to a single individual period is a as a Tempo period O vers D four or five plays with the ones four or five plays with the twos and fall camp with the threes as fast as we can go and then we go to Indie and you know I think it just gets our guys used to like man we got to start fast every day like the first thing we do before we go catch a Pat and go or hit a shoot is still 11 on 11 now we don't you know we do go through the natural order practice after that but that's just a little thing that we just do daily right that I think our guys just get used to maybe I mean that's a fantastic mindset thing just to be ready right now and to go and then there's no you know kind of excuse so I love that I think that's fantastic um let's do look at the defensive side of the ball because it's so funny you know you and I had that little moment we're making fun of EA Sports what the heck are those guys talking about you can tell pack by the way the reason we care is because recruits care D I'm right I ain't sitting around upset that EA didn't rank us I'm glad we don't get ranked and stuff but I'm like hey man it helps me in recruiting go see those kids see it man they gotta know they gotta know it's real so let's educate some of the people because you guys were absolutely wreaking havoc in the backfield last year number two not in G5 not in the American in the freaking country in sacks with 47 and you guys were tied for seventh with 99 tackles for loss that that is a game changer if you can replicate that if you can get those guys to buy in so what what is the secret to success because obviously moving up you're playing a little bit better teams you're playing a little bit better competition how do you keep that going yeah you're right I mean that's it's the end of the game it's real simple on on defense how do I create negative plays turnovers and force field goals in a Red Zone and on offense how do I not turn the ball over how do I eliminate negative plays and how do I score touchdowns in the red zone like it's that simple and last year Scott Simons and that crew in their second year our defensive staff was just fantastic we you get you get what you emphasized or after our first year we didn't think we tackled well and we didn't think we blocked well and we didn't think we had good ball security and we didn't cause any turnovers so starting in Spring ball last year and then we didn't in Fall camp and we did it again this spring and we'll do it again this fall Camp once we do go through that Tempo period to start practice we go to 10 minutes of of Indie that is mandated on defense we're doing Pursuit running the ball because we're going to swarm and we're working on tackling and on offense we're working on ball security and perimeter blocking and that's it before we get into anything else and we we kind of did it in the spring and we liked it so much we carried over to the fall well we were number one in the country in defensive touchdowns we were number two in sacks we were tied for fourth and third down to your point we were like seventh and it it translated and so I don't know if it always does um because you can't be you can't work on everything but we tried to work on the things we think they're important hey if we tackle well and swarm to the ball two things are going to happen we're going to create more turnovers and when we miss tackles more dudes are going to be there to make the play because you're G to miss tackles and same thing on offense if we keep the football yeah and you know we've got a better chance of scoring and so we just tried to get better at those base fundamentals and man for our defense it was nothing was better than the conference Championship game where we sacked the quarterback seven times and then picked it off to seal the game you know like just in Elijah Roberts who came from Miami and guys like that were opportunistic and so to do it we got to have more guys step up because we're going to need the depth uh and I think we've at least recruited to that coach I I love this Insight of kind of just the little things that you do a little differently than some other people and how it pays off and you mentioned Elijah Roberts he's already getting you know a lot of preseason hype and things of that nature um give us a few other names that you're really excited about that you feel like can help this defense be great again you know I'll start with the D line you know we had great depth last year and and we still have good depth on the edge but we needed to bring in some D tackles you know I think two guys on the interior that stand out although there's four or five that I could give you Jared Harrison hunt comes over from Miami and then tank um comes over from Arkansas I think that's two tanks a tank he's a big body in the middle and then Jared's an athletic three technique that can create pressure and and negative plays and then you look on the outside Elijah Robert Jared Harrison hunt come I mean uh Jafari Harvey excuse me comes over but then we have uh Isaiah uh we call him turbo um you know who's in his third year at dend uh we have Cam Robertson we have a lot of guys on that defense that I think can create pressure and create Havoc I think we got an experienced linebacker group with with Kobe Wilson and a mod Walker seniors but then a guy like Alex Kilgore who was a freshman last year is really talented and then our safeties our safeties are the generals of our defense we play with three of them but we got four guys that I think are differen makers we got CJ Sanders at nickel we got Jonathan McGill Isaiah wobe and Ahad Moses all four of those guys in that rotation and they're the QBs of Scott Simons defense and they're they're how we keep people from being explosive in the passing game but they're also good tacklers and those are the guys who obviously create a lot of those turnovers for us so um that's some names for you yeah it's gonna be fun to watch especially if you can replicate those numbers because it's it's the greatest equalizer when you can create negative plays for an offense and it's it's certainly fun to see coach we've asked this to to everybody that's come on every head coach has come on and I'm we've talked about it a little bit but I'm excited to hear your answer here we're going to have iPads on the sideline where you see video I can't lie to you anymore and say a guy was somewhere you're gonna see it immediately uh and also we have that uh coacht player helmet communication which I I think like yourself coach Norville a handful of others it's gonna speed everything up for for your offense what do you like about these changes how do you think it will help you and just how will it I guess change your game day approach knowing there's a couple other additional things yeah I'm excited about it you know I I think it makes sense these guys are going to go play in the NFL next so why wouldn't we do what they do um you know we'll adapt we'll figure it out you know hopefully before too long in these games and get comfortable what I like about it to your point the iPads will be huge for me I think as a head coach or Mike or guys that are head coaches that call the offense or defense because when you're a head coach you don't get to go over and sit with the offense while the defense is out there you're still roaming the sidelines and you're talking to your coaches going hey tell me what the corner did here hey tell me what this you know I'm you're not talking to the QB that much and then all of a sudden boom you're back on the field right and so for me while the defense is out there I'm G to be able to be swiping through the iPad going oh no that's what the corner did I don't have to worry if someone told me right or not or you know the receiver told me he was wide open and there's three guys covering him like we always know and so um I think that'll help me as a play caller that's also a head coach because I'll be able to see that while I'm still monitoring while we're on defense and teams I think the to coach to player deal especially for me is with your with your quarterback I think is big and yeah it'll help us go faster because the way we do it half the time I'm calling the play he's going to hear the play before the signalers have even done anything so that'll help him but I just look at since we play fast and you have till 15 seconds I look at all the opportunities to just help the quarterback either stay calm or manage the game in the moment whether it's hey man we're thinking two downs here or we're in field goal range hey we want to score but let's make sure we get points or hey play clock or hey you know hey we're under 30 seconds no timeouts can't take a sack like whatever hey he gets his Bell rung or makes a bad read and almost throws a pick hey man go to the next play we're good third down get up third get yeah instead of like do not ever do that again or you will come Stand By Me Like I probably need to stay away from that one um until he gets to the sidelines but you know we'll we'll see hopefully I'm not holding the button down when I say half the things I say so oh man gosh I can't wait brother this was so much fun thankful for your time go get some more recruits because you're reeling them all in and have a little break if you can man appreciate your time well I appreciate youall having me on we're so fired up to be in the ACC and see a lot more of y'all uh I think uh we're excited about the teams in the league we to compete with and and hopefully we add some value to the league as well [Music] thanks to coach Lashley for joining us and as Mac I have to you know tell some Texas correspondent of these SMU people who are joining us that I am from Texas so maybe that will bring them into the you know what's so funny I do this every time we say Texas it's just what I do I'm sorry so horns down Pony up let's go my bad so that's that's your go-to uh as of now Texas that's just what I think about you've ended up in Dallas a lot lately for UFL and then foru so max Max's been hanging one of them we're there for the Road show we're hopefully going to be back during the season so I'm you know basically the the uh not the adviser but I'm kind of like Texas correspondent yeah correspond I like that that's perfect that's a great title I think I'm gonna add that to my bio I love that and you have me helping you become that Texas correspondent exactly um but all jokes aside we are we we understand I think the what SMU could become yeah and I understand growing up in Texas what SMU was was yes and of course what they're trying to get back to now as we kind of talked about in the intro the big question is how do you transition from group of five to power four and Mac they return a lot on offense they return their top seven pass catchers of course Preston Stone they have a lot of weapons on offense the defense was also really really good last year so when you bring all of this together I know they lost a few guys to some different um bigger schools if you know you could say that um some guys off the offensive line but they return a lot it really comes down to the trenches is that what you would say because that's that's the cliche can you keep up in the trenches as a guy who used to play in the trenches is that the way you see it for for sure and and what I'm looking at is just the you know the depth and when things start getting tough you know how much can can be there because a couple injuries happening and who do you have left you know type of deal there so that's what you're really paying attention to they also brought in you know a couple of transfers as well from Oklahoma from Arkansas that they feel really good about long big tackles uh that that you have there so yeah I mean that's the only concern that I have but you know as as you just heard coach Lashley say they felt like they had a power four power five offensive line last year that's why they were able to to be so competitive so for me kg it's full steam ahead um it will come down to it and you know just like some of the teams in this league once you kind of get Midway to the season do do you lose steam do you lose momentum because an injury or two happens and you just don't have the depth or do you work your way through it so I I'm really excited for these guys and think they come in and compete right now I agree now let's look at the win total s and a half is the total from Vegas here's what I like about this schedule man I like the home games I think you have a lot of winnable home games I think it's very possible you'll be favored in most of your home games besides Florida State perhaps TCU you know we'll see what happens there but you get Houston Christian BYU TCU FSU at home plus pit BC Cal pit BC Cal to me those should be wins BC you get a rematch from the bowl game last year and then of course your other home games so at seven and a half that means you got to go on the road perhaps knock off a Stanford play at Duke knock off a Duke Rett Lashley Manny Diaz reuniting and then at Virginia I see winnable games I am taking the over here Matt yeah I I am too and I think this is a team that you know eight n is is a great spot for them and and what a what an inaugural year into the ACC if they're able to do that but with all the skill all the talent they have coming back how disruptive as you mentioned and and Coach we talked with about how disruptive that defense was in the back field creating turnovers things of that nature uh why not you know and again I know the level of competition is taking a step forward but these like these guys are ready and I think kind of like I said smu's ready to compete I think eight or nine is is the number that I feel really good about them finishing with I'm going to say eight I think some Final Thoughts of these Road games can get a bit tricky with the schedule but I do think the schedule overall is manageable opening at Nevada way early in the season August 24th they're starting camp in July uh coach Lashley was talking about that there's some tricky spots on the schedule but I I'm gonna say I think eight would be a great spot for f for FSU for SMU uh to start and then maybe get a bowl win we'll see what but hey Ma if SMU fans really want to start talking like you win those first four let's say you beat TCU you win your first four you got FSU at home let's say FSU undefeated I this could be a huge game so there's a lot of could bees right now at SMU hey maybe we'll be there to see it I can't wait I can't wait to see this can't wait to see the rest of these as we are just cooking right now kg getting through these ACC previews uh appreciate Chris Smith setting this up appreciate coach Lashley uh because we're just continuing to press right on and I'm with you uh Kelly I think we both are pretty excited about SMU and the things that they're going to bring to the league so need your guys help the episodes have been doing amazing love your guys comments you've really helped us out here continue to subscribe jump on this train with us and of course the OG's over on Apple podcast great review subscribe there as well we would greatly appreciate that but until next time we'll see yall [Music]