FTSG Ep 169 - Rhett Lashlee

[Music] it's time for from the short grass with Trey shap a golf podcast for those who love golf struggle with golf and just like to enjoy the outdoors and fellowship with friends all while chasing a ball around trying to put it in a 4 and 1/4 in diameter hole from the short grass is brought to you by Stevens Incorporated an independent Financial Services firm with the freedom to focus on what matters most and by Beachwood Pinnacle hotels we partner with you to deliver high yield results by managing developing and investing in top quality Hospitality assets and now from the short grass here is your host Trey sha welcome to another episode of from the shore grass I am your host Trey shap Hadi matama wins the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs by winning the FedEx St Jude championship at TPC South Wind in Memphis Tennessee Hideki matama bogied the 14th hole double bogey the 15th hole on Sunday to stand at two over par before birdies on 17 and 18 gave him a two-shot victory over Xander chafl and Victor havlin Hadi matama finished at Min -7 for the tournament while Scotty sheffler finished fourth at minus 14 Sam Burns tied for fifth with Nick Dunlap Nick dunlap's fifth place finish a minus 13 on the tournament moved him on to the next round of the FedEx Cup playoffs at Castle Pines in Colorado Scotty Sheffer still leads the FedEx Cup standings by 1,496 points over Xander chafl Hadi matama moves up to third Colin morawa is fourth and Roy maroy is fifth the all imported top 50 advance to the BMW Championship Keegan Bradley right now is 50th he started the week at 39 but fell to 50th with his showing at the FedEx Cup St Jude Championship after the BMW Championship the top 30 will make their way to Atlanta and East Lake Country Club for the Tour Championship in Amateur Golf for the first time ever Spain has a US amateur Champion Jose Louise ballister held off Noah Kent two up in the 36 hole final at Hazel te National Golf Club the match went the distance a full 36 holes ballister after tying the first hole never trailed in the final ballister receives the gold medal custody of the hav Meer trophy for one year exemptions into the next 10 US amateur championships provided he stays in amateur exemption into the 25 Us open at Oakmont a likely invitation into next April's Masters tournament an exemption into the 2025 Open championship at Royal Port Rush those last two exemptions as long as he remains an amateur coming up on this edition of from the Short Grass football kicks off this week and one team that's going to be on the field on Saturday is the SMU Mustangs I sat down with head coach Rhett Lashley former quarterback at Shiloh Christian a graduate assistant at Arkansas and a longtime offensive coordinator under Gus Malon who was his high school coach at Shiloh Christian rat Lashley coming up after the break Beachwood Pinnacle Hotel Group Matthew Allen and Blair Allen they know how to manage hotel properties when you need an overnight place to stay make sure you find a Beachwood Pinnacle hotel and book it how do you do that find them on the web BPH hotels.com I'm back with Rhett Lashley after this stay with us strength is measured not by the number of accounts strength is placing value on relationships it's having the vision and the guts to invest in growth it's the commitment to responsibly manage your money at Stevens we believe that our strengths build success not only for us but for our clients Stevens member NYSC sipc Beachwood Pinnacle Hotel group is the leader in the state and managing hotel properties from elero to Jonesboro to fville to Kansas City and back home in Little Rock you will find a Beachwood Pinnacle managed Hotel property are you looking for a weekend station book The Hilton Garden in located on Rock Street and enjoy the Agassi 7even roof top bar with fantastic views of the Little Rock Skyline open Sunday through th Thursday evenings from 4:00 to 11: and Friday and Saturday from 5:00 to midnight find them on the web at BPH hotels.com Beachwood Pinnacle Hotel [Music] Group welcome back to this edition of from the Shor grass Rhett Lashley was born in Springdale Arkansas played quarterback at the University of Arkansas from 2002 to 2004 and after that started his coaching career he was the quarterback coach at Springdale High School from 2004 to 200 5 a graduate assistant at Arkansas and Auburn followed before he left and went to sford to be the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach he was the OC at Arkansas State and Auburn Yukon SMU and Miami before getting the nod to be the head coach of the SMU Mustangs in 2022 his head coaching record is 18 and n and he leads the Mustangs into the ACC for the first time ever on the team Rhett Lashley Rhett thanks for joining me on from the Short Grass head football coach SMU moving to the ACC what's that transition been like for you yeah I mean it's it's been fast I mean we we won a conference Championship and it doesn't feel like we ever got to really sit and enjoy it you know but that may just be the way college football is you know because uh we won and then we had December recruiting and all that and then we played in a bowl game and the next thing you know we in January and we got about six seven months to get ready to play in the ACC so whether it be recruiting and uh bulking up our staff in some areas and just doing things we need to do all while at the same time getting our team ready for the off season uh it just feels like we jumped in it pretty quick the SEC now it stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean basically with Cal in there too right yeah it's an Atlantic Coast Conference that goes out to the Pacific right so Stanford and Cal joined we're we're kind of in that happy medium you know it's not a big adjustment for us we'll go we'll go west one game a year um and you know we were in the American Conference which was a predominantly Central to East Coast Conference so our travel won't be a problem but uh you know obviously the caliber of teams we're playing and our peers have definitely stepped it up a level you like your schedule you have this year coming up yeah I do it's exciting I mean when you think of I mean look people in Arkansas very familiar with SMU in the Southwest Conference and you know we've got a rich history from do Walker to playing in Cowboy stadium to Eric Dickerson the Pony Express won 11 Southwest conference championships over our history um but had been kind of out of the power conversation for the last 35 years or so um you know but I think when you look at our schedule for our fans our school you know weeks three four and five BYU TCU Florida state three weeks in a row rolling to Ford Stadium we just hadn't had that type of schedule and you know also pit and BC and Cal just you know next year you you know Baylor and Miami and so on and so forth and so you just start to look at the schools that we're playing um that part's exciting if you're a coach if you're a player you want to compete against the best but then I also think from a strategic standpoint it actually may work out you know being a a leap year we get two bi-weeks we're playing week zero so we get three we never play more than three games in a row yeah which is crazy it'll never happen again probably but we go three and we're off three and we're off three and we're off we got seven home games so hopefully we'll uh we'll do well let's talk a little golf when did you first pick up a golf club do you remember yeah I was uh my mother remarried when I was seven to a guy named Phil Phillips out of Springdale and so shortly around seven or eight I never played but he played and so he would take me to play and he'd drag me around and I'd cry cuz I was hitting grounders and he was hitting in the air and I didn't really care I just wanted to hit the ball in the air you know at Springdale Country Club Y and then we'd play you know it took me a long time for I was allowed to then I got to go play at Pinnacle after a while from then but uh seven or eight and then I had some good buddies that played and did the the the Statewide asga Junior Tour stuff and where you'd play in Little Rock and Fort Smith and all that had fun and uh probably by the time I was 12 13 I was at least decent enough to say I was a golfer yeah did you think about what sport you really wanted to focus on because obviously a talented football player as well when did when did you have to make that decision I didn't think about it I just knew knew I was I was pretty much an only child until my mom remarried and then I got a sister out of the deal but I uh I Just Sports was kind of my thing it was my outlet and I was in Springdale so Northwest Arkansas wasn't half as big as it is now so you could kind of play everything and so I played football and then I played I mean I played football Kanas Kids Day in spring in first grade you know so I played football then I'd play basketball then I'd play baseball and golf and then as I got older I'd run track and I just kind of did it all and then it probably wasn't my seventh grade year was when Gus came to Shiloh we had a good team my seventh grade year so around sixth or seventh grade is when I guess at least for Springdale I I could throw the ball okay for the kid in Springdale and then you know Gus came to our school and by my eighth grade year we're no huddling and opening it up and I think somewhere around n9th or 10th grade I realized that maybe football was my best sport I had the most fun playing golf and basketball um and the way Gus was football was year round so baseball was really the first one to drop off after about 14 15 I dropped baseball and pretty much focused on football basketball Golf and track and that worked out for me so did you play high school golf at Shiloh I was actually all state um as a as a ninth grader I got to go play well I don't know if I I was shot 80 because I made a eight and I shot 80 we had a guy Nam Cole McNair played for us he was a good football player too that was the a player but Gus was our golf coach too and uh imagine that I think we were in Elo at El Country Club even okay so I played ninth and 10th and 11th grade um Golf and played got to play in the state tournaments and I wasn't never good enough to win them but I was competitive and then tore my shoulder up senior year so I didn't get to play basketball and golf but uh yeah I had a blast did you ever think that yeah this is a sport that I'm just really in love with or did that ever come to you with golf yeah I love playing golf until I was about 27 I played a ton I actually got decent um but the problem is I was taught by my dad just dragging me around never had a golf lesson Had a homemade golf swing I'm from Arkansas I grew up me and my buddy clay Cole would sit at Pinnacle and hit off the range and John Daly was on the back range and balls were rolling at our feet uh from 350 and so I kind of swing like John Daly I swing as hard as I can I hit it a long way do you know where it's going half the time you know if it's a good day yeah and I'll play really well if it's not a good day then I'm really good at punt shots you know what I mean but uh and then and then uh I got married to my wife who my father-in-law just happens to be a us an All-American golfer from LSUS one who knows how many tournaments in Arkansas and oh by the way just won the US senior Amer in his first try beating his brother in the semis so you know I was dating her and I'd go to Hebrew Springs to play golf at the Red Apple in with him and you know about a whole three or four he would be like you know you got a really athletic swing if you just shorten your back swing a little bit and you know that's not what you want to hear from your father-in-law is he's beating you into the ground yeah cuz he's seven under and there's you can do about it what are those matches like with Lewis is good no there's no that's what killed me is I'm competitive yeah like I don't want Strokes whoever I play and I'm not even good enough to win but I but with him I just I never I'd wave the White Flag before I even got there did he offer you Strokes no there was I don't think either one of us ever were under the naive impression this was a competition but it was wonderful to watch him play I'll never forget we were engaged and he came up to Northwest Ark saw and me and my dad and him and my buddy were going to play and I'd been telling him about how good he was like no you guys don't understand like if it's within 20 feet he makes it it's 270 down the middle you'll think oh he's about to make a bogey next thing you know he made a birdie like it's unbelievable and they're like yeah whatever so he'd never seen Springdale country club we teed off on number one was the old side at that time okay I don't know how they got it set up now so we tee off on he bogey one not a hard hole and they're looking at me like okay and he shot 65 whoa so like I said it's it's pretty incredible um what were they saying after that well after the first hole they're like okay you talked up a you know and after that they're like okay you know I mean it's just but that's when you learn I learned what a real golfer is yeah first of all you hit it straight you know where it's going you're not about how far you hit it but around the greens they're up and down every time I mean I'm telling you if it's within 10 15 ft it's in yeah and it's just six-footers that you and I stress over six eight Footers four-footers they're like they're just they're they're gimmies basically I mean they're both in the Arkansas State Golf Hall of Fame him Louis and Stan his brother just unbelievable Gentlemen of the game and and golfers and I don't think I mean you might say different but I don't think you could have a better father-in-law no I couldn't yeah I'm very fortunate he's been good to me my wife is awesome so he raised an incredible daughter um and no he's not had to tell me about how much better he is at golf me over the years we just don't have to worry about it but no it's really cool to your point Stan wins it five years later Lewis goes beats him in the semis then he caddies for Lewis wins it like those two guys you know what they've done for golf in the state of Arkansas and just who they are as people to your point I mean Lewis is um he's he's an incredible golfer and he's hundred times a better human being all right when were you more nervous getting ready to ask him if you could could have his daughter in marriage or on the first te knowing you're about to play against him in a Round Golf I was never nervous playing against him other than the first time okay cuz I'd heard about it and I'm at the time I'm just the boyfriend you know and and then four holes in I realized this is a coronation I don't have to worry about this so I got unnervous real quick um definitely more asking him if I could marry his daughter IID lucked out though and had known him for a couple years at that point and to your point Lewis is so gracious he he didn't he was pretty he was pretty gentle on me and a lot more gentle than I probably will be on the whoever talks to me about my girls yeah so but no that uh I was more nervous asking him for that than I was asking her to marry me that's for sure when you are a football coach you get asked to play a lot of times and scramble events things like that when you were an assistant coach you get asked to do some of that stuff were you one of those guys that hey I want Rett on my team cuz I know how good he is probably from a coaching standpoint yeah I mean by no means am I a great golfer but for as little as we play and like I said I did play a lot till I was probably in my mid 20s um yeah I get to I get to play in a lot of cool places and uh you know at Auburn there was a deal at East Lake every year in Atlanta that is just every in May you just know we're going up for the big bow and Barkley fundraiser and you get to play in it you know and um and so so on and so forth and so I've always prescribed to this if I'm not good enough to help the team I at least swing really hard and hit it a long way so I'm at least entertaining how was your relationship with Gus maon obviously you played for him you coached with him and you were as offensive coordinator at times too yeah no it's good I mean our our relationships evolved over the years because I went from being a little you know pimpled face seventh grader at Shiloh Christian when he rolls in as the head coach and Tina students to his starting quarterback as a sophomore in high school to his GA at Arkansas and helping him at Auburn and then his OC at Arkansas State and Auburn and so and now we're we're peers you know as as head coaches and so it's evolved I mean I think a lot of people that played High School sports know your high school coach is kind of always your coach um so there's that aspect of the relationship but then to work for him for as long as I did and be his coordinator for over five years like that's a little different and now I'd say our relationship's aru arguably the best it's ever been now because um you know we're both head coaches uh he's kind of on the good side of his career where he's he's really I think got great perspective enjoying what he's doing I'm trying to uh I'm on the front side of mine trying to just build our program every year and um and so there's a lot of bouncing off that can go on we we're together it's it's you know we're not going to compete with each other on the same staff so we don't have that pressure it's just more uh it's a more relaxed relationship it's very appreciative I think on both of our ends and I've really enjoyed the last couple years just the kind of the dialogue has just changed and uh that's that's been pretty cool he's in Orlando a lot of good golf courses around there you're in Dallas really good golf courses around here too when you do get out and get to play here in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex where do you get to go and where do you like to play what's funny is I don't play a lot of golf in Dallas cuz the time of year I can play golf is now and it's hot in Dallas and nobody's in Dallas um but here locally you know I I have the ability to play at Royal Oaks which is where Scotty shuffler grew up playing um and then you know Trinity Forest is where SMU golf team plays I'll play there a couple times a year and then you know there's some really good courses whether it's Dallas Country Club Preston Trail um Dallas national uh Northwood that you know you'll play with some SMU uh alumni or or or friends at times you know maybe one round at each year we got a lot of good golf courses here we got a lot of good golfers here not just Bryson to Shambo but the Jordan spe and the Justin Thomas' and Scotty shefflers like all those guys like this is kind of home when they're not out on tour so we got some pretty good golfers in the area have you ever seen some of them out on the Range and you walk up to and you say hey can you come look at my swing for a little bit I don't want anybody looking at my swing my swing is is not one that you want to try to repeat okay okay who's the better golfer you or Gus well I'm sorry but it's not you'll have to ask Gus but it's me you know I mean I I've definitely beating him a lot more than he's beating me he's going to hurt him to hear that and uh I'd love for to hear he his response to that but he knows the truth um and definitely lately you know we go to this coach's classic out in Pebble he actually challenged our team this year they they do it by team he came up to our team and threatened us and they were up two strokes after day one and I think we won by double digits by the end of day three so wow yeah so y'all put the hammer down on we did but I do have a really cool story so Gus is the head coach at Springdale I just kind of finish playing I'm kind of helping coach the quarterbacks at Spring down we go to Stonebridge to play in some two-man scramble I don't know what it was and he's late he shows up like we literally grabbed our bags put on the cart and headed out to I don't remember if it's whole two or three it's the first part three not loose whatever I get up you know I I don't remember how far it was I it was probably 180 185 I remember I hit a seven iron and he's like what is it I told him he goes I'm not loose I'm going to hit a six he walked up one hopped and dunked it no way first right off in the hole I'm like he didn't tell me that story when I said down with him a couple of years ago well it's not that memorable for him it's just a hole in one and I'm like you just made that he's like yep I think I did hopped in the golf cart and off we went like what are we doing so one circle circle but we did have some good competitive matches back in the day when I was on the high school golf team he was our coach uh early on in the coaching career you know at Auburn to when I was OC every year we'd go to farm links outside of Auburn and silaga and we would play kind of a staff round and it was always very important me to make sure I ended the summer by beating him so he wasn't a guy that like it's not like coach Sabin where you can't beat coach your staff was like no if you can beat coach you go ahead and do it I don't know what everyone else thought but all I wanted to do was beat him and because he was going to talk a lot of noise if it didn't happen and it's kind of like the ironbowl you get bragging rights for a year Well if you win that last round before we go into fall Camp you get to talk all till next spring yeah and uh he probably got me once but I got him most the time I'll never forget the last time I chipped it in on 18 when I was up one and it it it angered him a little bit so what was the trash talk like then all during the the the season and before you get well that rule was in place if I beat the head coach I wouldn't I didn't talk trash I just knew I beat the head coach you know what I mean but when he beat you I probably heard about it yeah do you remember any of that no he he he's he's all in good fun but every now and then he just by hey you remember that time I beat you you know but here's my thing like if you got to remember that time then didn't happen very much that's right that's right it hadn't happened with me yet I mean I think we might have played three four times I think every time I've won five bucks off of him that's all he's GNA play for well he's smart enough to not bet too much chrisy gets mad at him because he's losing $ five I will say I have a better golf swing than he has uh yeah mad about that five bucks I know he's got a wide stance he's got a wide stance he's got that kind of softball swing going but again when it's on he's pretty good R when this guy is is playing on TV you are going to stop and make plans to watch him we're talking golfers I mean right now at this day I mean for everybody in my lifetime it would be tiger right but for current uh I'd say Scotty sheer and Bryson Des Shambo you know one Scotty shord is the best golfer in the world right now and I'm in Dallas he grew up right around the corner from SMU I can go to Royal Oaks where he grew up playing and then Bryson went to SMU and obviously just won the open and U you know he'll come around and he'll be here for some games and so it's just kind of cool that two of the better golfers in our game right now either connected to where we are or come around a lot I was going to ask you are there plans to have Bryson at a game this year with that US Open championship trophy absolutely I'm look that's not totally my job you're not in marke you know but I would think when you start to look at we got TCU at home we got our first conference game against Florida State I could see those being venues that would be great and he'll be here and he's been gracious I know to our golf team to our school uh has come back a lot more recently and I mean the reason those guys are so impressive I mean Scotty's consistency is incredible he's got a chance to maybe go on a decade run similar to like what tiger did and then you know you look at Bryson what he does and how far he hits the ball and how unique he is with his club links and uh it was kind of cool I got one of these Putters of his the other day from that he's designed his own putter you know that's like a different lofted putter like he's very scientific about it I think it's just fascinating are you are you an analytical guy when it comes to numbers and stuff with football like he is with golf I'm really the total opposite I'm a I'm a feel guy uh I know the numbers I want to hear the information like you know we have somebody in the middle of a drive on Third and seven going hey four is a go so I know fourth and four are better means the book tells me to go but that book doesn't have to go to the postc press conference afterwards yeah so I I'm not I mean I want to know the data I think it's important but it's a human game it's a human element and that's just also my person ality I I'm a little more of a feel by your gut kind of guy EA Sports has come out with their new college football 25 have you played it yet um and then have you played EA Sports golf games as well back in the day I played Tiger Woods Golf like crazy yeah obviously I don't play a lot of video games anymore uh every now and then I'll play some Madden with one of my boys or whatever but yes actually last night we got the game my boys had been playing it last night late one of my sons said Dad let's play so I said okay it been 10 years now okay I was good back in the day and don't tell me you lost no he randomly scrolled it so he didn't want it but he got Alabama so he had me randomly scroll and I think I got organ I said forget this I'm playing with SMU okay at Alabama he goes are you sure you want to do that I'm like yeah so we're at Alabama he chose to wear whites I wore the SMU black Unis in the very first play our quarterback Preston Stone throws a pick six and he's up seven nothing and my other son goes so is that going to hurt him in real life and I said I don't know l'sen see how the rest of the game goes I was down 21 to nothing at the end of the first quarter which back in the day house rules of game would have been over but we kept playing and I won 43 to 28 and I make sure the young one knows where he stands and SMU beat Alabama in my first game on the new game in over a decade so can't beat that can you no had some comeback to do though best golf course Rett Lashley has ever played oh man well I'm gonna say one and then I'll give you another I've played Augusta once so yeah I mean that's that's the most nervous I've ever been over a t- shot was hitting that first t- shot there just make contact you know what I mean um there's a lot of good ones I love Pebble Beach it fits well to me but I you know what I I love spy glass right out there buy it m uh and we get to go to this deal every year and play those two in Spanish Bay uh I could play I like spy glass the most I think because it's like the tale of two NES you know you you tea off on one and you kind of go down the hill and you go by the water on the ocean not quite as Majestic as Pebble but you're down there for four five six holes and then you work your way back up so it's almost like you have some ocean linkx Golf and some American Golf in the woods all together and I also like it because I play good there so um I would say that that would be up there for me fantasy for some living or deceased you and three others that you could play around a golf with who would they be people or golfers people golfers anybody I mean that plays the game yeah but you know anybody okay I'm going to go with actual humans I'm not going to give you like Jesus or something like that like probably people would do fantasy forsome I'd love to play with tiger I'd love to play with Jack and I love to play with John Daly that'd be pretty cool that'd be a heck of a group wouldn't it there'd be some stories in that one is that one where where you just sit back and just listen to him talk well I have a feeling John would be doing a lot of talking uh I don't I don't know I just want to know whose team I get to be on in the two on two game I get your pick who do you want well I mean who at my age who doesn't want tiger I didn't get to see Jack in his prime but I'm very respectful of it yeah and uh I don't know John and I could be a bad combo I think yall would do pretty good Rhett thanks so much for the time best of luck at uh SMU and the move to the ACC and going to keep following you thanks Trey appreciate you having me on traveling to faille to watch a game forgot to book a room for the night Beachwood Pinnacle Hotel Group has you covered stay where the real fans stay stab Bridge Suites is just south of B Walker stadium and is an allset Hotel within walking distance of bomb Walker Bud Walton Bole Park and Razorback Stadium or you could stay at the comfort in and SES with the newly remodeled rooms throughout the entire property find them on the web at BPH hotels.com when you need an overnight place to stay anywhere in Arkansas check out BP hotels.com first Beachwood Pinnacle hotels at Stevens our philosophy is to invest every dollar as if it were our own to seize opportunity to anticipate rather than react act to deliver constant focus in an everchanging world and to pursue the objectives of our clients in order to help them Reach their financial goals a proven history of helping companies and individuals Stevens member NYSC sipc that will just about do it for this edition of from the Short Grass I want to thank Rett Lashley for spending time out of his busy schedule before fall Camp started to sit down and chat with me they open up at Nevada on Saturday a 7:00 Central Time kick it's going to be shown on the CBS Sports Network and then they returned to Gerald Ford stadium in Dallas for four straight home games a highlight there is their ACC opener against Florida State on September the 28th they open their season with four straight non-conference games at Nevada Houston Christian BYU and TCU all three of those last games at Gerald Ford stadium before the big match up with Florida State in their ACC opener that will do it for this edition of from the Short Grass remember when you find your ballark on the green fix it and a couple of more and I hope to see you sometime soon from the Short Grass you've been listening to from the Short Grass a weekly podcast dedicated to the game of golf this has been a presentation of The Buzz radio network [Music]