SMU Mustangs

SMU Mustangs
Current season: 2025 SMU Mustangs
First season	1915
Athletic director	Rick Hart
Head coach	Rhett Lashlee
	3rd year, 29–12 (.707)
Home stadium	Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Year built	2000
Stadium capacity	32,000 +
Stadium surface	FieldTurf
Location	Dallas, Texas
Conference	ACC
Past conferences	TIAA (1915–1917) SWC (1918–1995) WAC (1996–2004) C-USA (2005–2012) AAC (2013-2023) ACC 2024-present
All-time history
All-time record	544–562–54 (.492)
Postseason bowl record	7–11–1 (.395)
Playoff appearances	1 (2024)
Playoff record	0-1
Claimed national titles	3 (1935, 1981, 1982)
Conference titles	12 (11 SWC, 1 AAC)
Division titles	2 (C-USA West Division)
Rivalries	TCU (rivalry) Navy (rivalry) Rice Pittsburgh Houston (rivalry) North Texas (rivalry)
Heisman winners	1
Consensus All-Americans	17
Current uniform
Colors	Red and Blue
Fight song	"Peruna"
Mascot	Peruna
Marching band	The Best Dressed Band in the Land
Website	smumustangs.com

The SMU Mustangs football team represents Southern Methodist University located in Dallas, Texas. The Mustangs are a member of the NCAA FBS Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and play their home games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. The Mustangs are currently coached by Rhett Lashlee. SMU joined the ACC in July 2024 after 11 years as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American).

History

SMU is known for having been dealt the most severe penalty for rules violations ever by the NCAA. After having been placed on probation for the fifth time in less than 15 years, it was discovered that a slush fund existed to pay players. The NCAA ordered all games in the 1987 season canceled, and a longer ban on off-campus recruiting caused the school to cancel the 1988 season, too. Known as the "Death Penalty", SMU had one winning season in the next 20, and did not play in another bowl game until the 2009 season.

National Champions (1935–1941)

1935 National Champions SMU Mustangs

Morrison was replaced by Matty Bell in 1935. In his first season, Bell led the Mustangs to a 12–1 record. During this season, the Mustangs were crowned national champions by Frank Dickinson and Deke Houlgate, the namesakes for two of seven different math systems used to choose a national champion at the time. For a chance to play in the Rose Bowl against the Stanford Indians football team for the unofficial national championship, SMU faced off against TCU, who featured two time All-American quarterback Sammy Baugh.

The Mustangs had three more winning seasons from 1936 to 1939. SMU failed to win the Southwest Conference title in 1940, despite having the same conference record as the Texas A&M Aggies. After a 5–5 season in 1941, Bell left SMU to serve in the United States Navy during World War II.

World War 2 (1942–1944)

With Bell in the Navy, Jimmy Stewart took his place as head coach. In his three seasons as head coach, Stewart compiled an overall record of 10–18–2. Bell returned as head coach for the 1945 season.

Doak Walker era (1945–1949)

Upon Bell's return as SMU's head coach, the team also gained halfback and placekicker Doak Walker. Walker won All-Southwest Conference honors his freshman year in 1945 and played in the East–West Shrine Game in San Francisco. Walker did not play in the 1946 season due to serving in the United States Army, yet re-enrolled at SMU and rejoined the football team for the 1947 season.

The Mustangs posted a 9–0–2 record in 1947, winning their sixth Southwest Conference title. In the same season, the team played against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Cotton Bowl Classic, resulting in a 13–13 tie. Walker threw a 53-yard touchdown pass and scored on a two-yard run in this game. Walker earned the Maxwell Award during this season.

Doak Walker statue on SMU campus.

During the 1948 season, the Mustangs won their seventh conference title, posting a 9–1–1 record. The team played in the Cotton Bowl Classic once more, defeating the Oregon Webfoots, who were led by quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, 21–13, making it their first victory in a bowl game in school history. Doak Walker, winning All-American honors, also won the Heisman Trophy, the only Mustang ever to do so. Additionally, the Mustangs permanently moved to the Cotton Bowl for their home games this season, after playing only a limited number of games in that stadium in years previous. In their final game at Ownby Stadium, the Mustangs defeated Texas Tech 41–6. Due to Doak Walker's popularity and gate draw—also as an allusion to 1923 Yankee Stadium's "House that Ruth Built″ moniker referring to that stadium's likewise excess of capacity—the Cotton Bowl became regionally known as "The House that Doak Built".

The 1949 season was both Doak Walker's and coach Matty Bell's last as part of SMU's varsity football team and program. The team posted a 5–4–1 record. Walker won All-American honors a third time, the most for any football player in SMU's history. Bell continued to serve SMU as the athletic director; Walker played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions. Over the course of his career at SMU, Walker rushed for 1,954 yards, passed for 1,638 yards, scored 288 points, punted for a 39.4 average and kicked field goals and extra points. He is also the Mustangs' all-time leader in punt return yards with 750—that was during an "era" of NCAA single-platoon substitution rules. Bell left the head coaching position at SMU with a 79–40–8 record, including three Southwest Conference titles, a bowl game victory, and a national championship.

Ron Meyer-Bobby Collins era (1976–1986)

SMU celebrates Cotton Bowl victory over Pitt.

Coach Ron Meyer came to SMU in 1976 from the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s (including a Super Bowl win) and a stint with UNLV. Coach Meyer was notable for his recruiting tactics, including visits each year to the homes of 70 or more of the top recruits per year. His most notable recruits were future NFL running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James before the 1979 season, as both their high school teams went 15-0 and won state championships. Combined with blue chip running back Charles Waggoner, the three backs were nicknamed the "Pony Express" running attack and shredded opposing defenses in the option offense led by quarterback Lance McIlhenny. In 1981, the Mustangs' performance earned them recognition by the National Championship Foundation as one of its five co-national champions. The final Associated Press poll ranked SMU No. 5, placing Clemson at No. 1. The team was not ranked in the coaches' poll at all due to a rule forbidding teams on probation from consideration.

SMU legend Eric Dickerson runs it in.

Coach Meyer left to become the head coach of the New England Patriots in 1982, and SMU hired Coach Bobby Collins, then head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dickerson finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1982, and the team claimed a share of its second consecutive national championship, being selected by Bill Schroeder of the Helms Athletic Foundation as his last ever selection, in addition to consensus champion Penn State; the Mustangs finished second in both the AP and coaches' polls.

SMU posted a 49-9-1 record from 1980 to 1984, which was the highest win percentage (.839) in Division I-A over that span.

"Death Penalty" and decades of rebuilding (1987–2023)

Main article: Southern Methodist University football scandal

In 1987, SMU became the first and only football program in collegiate athletic history to receive the "death penalty" for repeated serious violations of NCAA rules. The NCAA forced SMU to cancel its football program for the 1987 season because the university had been paying some of the players—approximately $61,000 was paid from 1985 until 1986. It later emerged that SMU had been keeping a slush fund to pay players since as early as the mid-1970s and that athletic officials had known about it as early as 1981.

SMU was eligible for the "death penalty" because it had already violated recruiting rules, and as a result had been placed on probation in 1985. Since many potential student-athletes were poor, boosters had been inducing them to sign with SMU by offering them payments and expense coverage. Several key boosters and SMU officials had determined that it would be unethical to cut off those payments after having started them, but also potentially problematic, as some boosters had signed contracts agreeing to pay certain athletes for the duration of their time at SMU. There was also the potential of disgruntled football players "blowing the whistle" on SMU should the payments be discontinued. When the sanctions were handed down, SMU had three players – all seniors about to graduate – receiving payments. Not long afterward, SMU announced that football was canceled for the 1988 season as well, after school officials received indications that there would be too few experienced players at the school to field a viable team, as most of the team had left the university and transferred to other institutions. Forrest Gregg, an SMU alumnus who had been the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, was hired in 1988 to help rebuild the team. The two-year gap in the program meant that Gregg had to begin with an undersized and underweight lineup. The Mustangs had three more head coaches, and only one winning season, through the completion of the 2007 season.

C-USA era (2008–2014)

In 2008 SMU hired Steve Orsini away from the University of Central Florida (UCF) to be SMU's athletic director. Orsini then hired June Jones from the University of Hawai'i as head football coach – the team's fifth coach since 1989. In Jones' first season at SMU, they had a 1–11 record. In 2009, Coach Jones' second season at SMU, the Mustangs made a turnaround, with a regular season record of 7–5. Despite finishing unranked in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, SMU was invited to its first bowl game in 25 years, and defeated the unranked Nevada Wolf Pack with a final score of 45–10 in the 2009 Hawai'i Bowl, the team's first bowl win since 1984.

2010 Conference USA Championship game

In 2010, the Mustangs again compiled a regular season record of 7–5, with a 6–2 in-conference record to earn their first chance at winning a conference title in 26 years, securing a berth in the Conference USA Championship game. SMU lost the conference title game, 17–7, against UCF. Once again unranked in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings, SMU was invited to its second consecutive bowl game, the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl, where it lost against the unranked Army Black Knights.

Following Texas A&M's move to the SEC in August and September 2011, SMU made it known that they would like to replace Texas A&M in the Big 12. SMU's interest in the Big 12 was never reciprocated, and the Big 12 instead added hated-rival of the Mustangs TCU along with West Virginia University out of the Big East.

SMU went on to win back-to-back bowl games in the 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl (for the 2011 season) and 2012 Hawaii Bowl. SMU ended the Jones era in 2014 the way it began: with a 1–11 season. The Mustangs won the last game of the season against the University of Connecticut on December 6, 2014.

Chad Morris (2015–2017)

SMU hired Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris as head coach and announced his placement on December 1, 2014. His first season resulted in a 2–10 record, a slight improvement from the 2014 season. SMU continued to improve in Morris' second season, finishing 5–7. In his 3rd season, Morris was able to lead the Mustangs to bowl eligibility and a 7–5 record in 2017. However, Morris accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas in the weeks prior to the bowl game, and SMU was forced to move quickly to hire a new football coach in light of the approaching bowl game.

Sonny Dykes (2017–2021)

Sonny Dykes was hired as the new football coach of SMU on December 11, 2017. The Mustangs were defeated by Louisiana Tech 51–10 in the DXL Frisco Bowl.

In the 2019 season, the Mustangs got off to an 8–0 start. On September 21, they defeated cross-town rival TCU. On September 29, the Mustangs were ranked in the AP top 25 for the first time since October 25, 1986

Rhett Lashlee (2021-present)

Head Coach Rhett Lashlee

Rhett Lashlee returned to SMU as the head football coach on November 29, 2021. Lashlee previously served as offensive coordinator for the Mustangs, including during the record-setting 2019 season. In 2023, Lashlee would lead SMU to their first-ever American Athletic Conference title win over #21 Tulane 59-24. This marked the Mustangs first conference title since 1984, which came during their tenure in the SWC.

In 2023 Southern Methodist University (SMU) officially joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) on July 1, 2024, alongside the University of California, Berkeley (Cal) and Stanford University, becoming full members with full voting participation.

In 2024, the Mustangs would finish the regular season 11-1 (8-0 Conference), earning them a spot in the ACC Championship Game, where they lost 34-31 to Clemson. They would then be selected to the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff for the first time ever in 2024, where they lost in the first round to Penn State, 38-10. This season was the Mustangs their first double-digit win count since the 1984 season.

Conference affiliations

• Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1915–1917)
• Southwest Conference (1918–1995)
• Western Athletic Conference (1996–2004)
• Conference USA (2005–2012)
• American Athletic Conference (2013-2023)
• Atlantic Coast Conference (2024-present)

Championships

Garry Weber End Zone Complex on campus.

National championships

SMU has won three national championships from NCAA-designated major selectors.Template:Rp SMU claims all three championships.

National Championships
Year	Head Coach	Selector	Record	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1935	Matty Bell	Berryman (QPRS), Dickinson System, Houlgate System, Sagarin Ratings, Sagarin (ELO-Chess)	12–1	Rose Bowl	Stanford	L 0–7
1981	Ron Meyer	National Championship Foundation	10–1	–	–	–
1982	Bobby Collins	Helms Athletic Foundation	11–0–1	Cotton Bowl	Pittsburgh	W 7–3

Conference championships

SMU has won 11 conference championships, nine outright and two shared.

Conference Championships
Year	Conference	Head Coach	Record	Conference Record
1923	Southwest Conference	Ray Morrison	9–0	5–0
1926	Southwest Conference	Ray Morrison	8–0–1	5–0
1931	Southwest Conference	Ray Morrison	9–1–1	5–0–1
1935	Southwest Conference	Matty Bell	12–1	6–0
1940†	Southwest Conference	Matty Bell	8–1–1	5–1
1947	Southwest Conference	Matty Bell	9–0–2	5–0–1
1948	Southwest Conference	Matty Bell	9–1–1	5–0–1
1966	Southwest Conference	Hayden Fry	8–3	6–1
1981	Southwest Conference	Ron Meyer	10–1	7–1
1982	Southwest Conference	Bobby Collins	11–0–1	7–0–1
1984†	Southwest Conference	Bobby Collins	10–2	6–2
2023	American Athletic Conference	Rhett Lashlee	11–3	8–0

† Co-champions

Divisional championships

SMU has won two division championships.

Division Championships
Year	Division	Head Coach	Opponent	CG result
2009†	Conference USA - West	June Jones	N/A lost tie-breaker to Houston
2010†	Conference USA - West	June Jones	UCF	L 7–17

† Co-champions American Athletic Conference (2013–2023)

Conference Championship Games

SMU has appeared in three conference championship games.

Conference Championship games
Year	Conference	Head Coach	Opponent	CG result
2010	Conference USA	June Jones	UCF	L 7–17
2023	American Athletic Conference	Rhett Lashlee	Tulane	W 26-14
2024	Atlantic Coast Conference	Rhett Lashlee	Clemson	L 31-34

Postseason

SMU has participated in 21 bowl games. The Mustangs have a record of 7–11–1 in these games.

Playoffs

SMU was selected as the 11th seed in the Inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff following the 2024 season.

College Football Playoff
Year	Round	Head Coach	Opponent	result
2024	1st Round	Rhett Lashlee	No 6. Penn State	L 10-38

Bowl Games

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1924	Ray Morrison	Dixie Classic	West Virginia Wesleyan	L 7–9
1935	Matty Bell	Rose Bowl	Stanford	L 0–7
1947		Cotton Bowl Classic	Penn State	T 13–13
1948		Cotton Bowl Classic	Oregon	W 21–13
1963	Hayden Fry	Sun Bowl	Oregon	L 14–21
1966		Cotton Bowl Classic	Georgia	L 9–24
1968		Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl	Oklahoma	W 28–27
1980	Ron Meyer	Holiday Bowl	BYU	L 45–46
1982	Bobby Collins	Cotton Bowl Classic	Pittsburgh	W 7–3
1983		Sun Bowl	Alabama	L 7–28
1984		Aloha Bowl	Notre Dame	W 27–20
2009	June Jones	Hawaiʻi Bowl	Nevada	W 45–10
2010		Armed Forces Bowl	Army	L 14–16
2011		BBVA Compass Bowl	Pittsburgh	W 28–6
2012		Hawaiʻi Bowl	Fresno State	W 43–10
2017	Sonny Dykes	Frisco Bowl	Louisiana Tech	L 10–51
2019		Boca Raton Bowl	Florida Atlantic	L 28–52
2020		Frisco Bowl	UTSA	Canceled
2021		Fenway Bowl	Virginia	Canceled
2022	Rhett Lashlee	New Mexico Bowl	BYU	L 23–24
2023		Fenway Bowl	Boston College	L 14–23
2024		CFP First Round †	Penn State	L 10-38

† Playoff Game

Seasons

2020s

Season	Coach	Record
2025	Rhett Lashlee
2024	Rhett Lashlee	11-3
2023	Rhett Lashlee	11-3
2022	Rhett Lashlee	7-6
2021	Sonny Dykes	8-4
2020	Sonny Dykes	7-3

2010s

Season	Coach	Record
2019	Sonny Dykes	10-3
2018	Sonny Dykes	5-7
2017	Chad Morris; Sonny Dykes	7-6
2016	Chad Morris	5-7
2015	Chad Morris	2-10
2014	June Jones; Tom Mason	1-11
2013	June Jones	5-7
2012	June Jones	7-6
2011	June Jones	8-5
2010	June Jones	7-7

2000s

Season	Coach	Record
2009	June Jones	8-5
2008	June Jones	1-11
2007	Phil Bennett	1-11
2006	Phil Bennett	6-6
2005	Phil Bennett	5-6
2004	Phil Bennett	3-8
2003	Phil Bennett	0-12
2002	Phil Bennett	3-9
2001	Mike Cavan	4-7
2000	Mike Cavan	3-9

1990s

Season	Coach	Record
1999	Mike Cavan	4-6
1998	Mike Cavan	1-1*
1997	Mike Cavan	6-5
1996	Tom Rossley	5-6
1995	Tom Rossley	1-10
1994	Tom Rossley	1-9-1
1993	Tom Rossley	2-7-2
1992	Tom Rossley	5-6
1991	Tom Rossley	1-10
1990	Forrest Gregg	1-10

• SMU vacated 10 games in the 1998 season due to using an ineligible player.

1980s

Season	Coach	Record
1989	Forrest Gregg	2-9
1987-1988 - no team
1986	Bobby Collins	6-5
1985	Bobby Collins	6-5
1984	Bobby Collins	10-2
1983	Bobby Collins	10-2
1982	Bobby Collins	11-0-1
1981	Ron Meyer	10-1
1980	Ron Meyer	8-4

Logos/Uniforms

Image gallery

External Links

• SMU Mustangs football article at Wikipedia
• Official team site