As the college football season nears, you know who has been front and center from the ACC? It’s been SMU head Rhett Lashlee, and I like it.
Paul Finebaum has become a total cartoon in recent years, but he has a huge platform, and Lashlee worked him up enough to get on his show.
Rhett Lashlee contrasts the shot he took at the SEC vs the shot taken by Curt Cignetti:
“I just brought up a historical fact…I didn’t throw shade at SEC scheduling when I didn’t play a Power 4 team on my schedule, myself.” pic.twitter.com/dG0CjWFvcN
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) July 28, 2025
Then, when the ESPN FPI dropped teams from the ACC for no apparent reason, Lashlee spoke up again.
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee on the mysterious ESPN FPI movement prior to games being played and limited intel coming out of camps
https://t.co/c7yXEf2RgF pic.twitter.com/VWnPtjxnya
— Mark Schipper – 5th Down CFB (@5thDownCFB) August 16, 2025
We’ve been lampooning the ESPN FPI for years. It’s a complete joke, but when a head football coach calls it out, then that’s a statement made.
Good for SMU’s Rhett Lashlee speaking up. He reminds me of Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher in the early 2010s, with a little Paul Johnson thrown in. Johnson was known to make some bold statements from time to time.
