Copyright Athlon Sports
Things have not gone well for Arkansas in the last few weeks, which includes one of its head coaching candidates receiving a contract extension on Friday. The Razorbacks fired head coach Sam Pittman after the 56-13 loss to then-ranked No. 22 Notre Dame in Week 5. Pittman finished his time in Fayetteville with an overall record of 32-34. He had three winning seasons from 2020-24. One of the top candidates named by various personalities and outlets was SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee, who played quarterback for the Razorbacks and is a native of Springdale, Arkansas. He was also a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 2006. However, that book closed on Friday, as On3’s Billy Embody reported that SMU gave Lashlee a two-year extension. Arkansas is now led by interim head coach Bobby Petrino, who was the offensive coordinator on Pittman’s staff this season. Petrino has yet to win a game as interim head coach. This is not his first time at Arkansas, as he was the head coach there from 2008-2011. Despite being linked to the Arkansas opening, Lashlee publicly denounced the rumors at a Sept. 30 press conference. “I haven’t given it any thought because there hasn’t been anything to give thought to,” Lashlee said. “Until there’s things to talk about, you don’t talk about them. Internally, we haven’t said a word about it because in my world, nothing’s going on. Outside of the world, there’s a lot of that speculation. That’s part of our business. It’s probably not going anywhere.” Lashlee is the main reason for SMU’s sustained success. He has never had a losing season with the Mustangs and led them to their first College Football Playoff appearance in program history in 2024. SMU faced Penn State in the first round of the CFP and lost 38-10. Lashlee was with SMU in its final season in the AAC in 2022. The Mustangs transferred to ACC and had consecutive 11-3 seasons in 2023 and 2024 under Lashlee. This season, SMU is 5-3 heading into Week 10 after a 13-12 loss to Wake Forest in its last game. SMU hosts No. 10 Miami on Saturday at noon ET on ESPN.
