Rhett Lashlee has made it known that the city of Dallas, the Metroplex and the state of Texas is a priority for SMU, now those players are reciprocating the feelings.

The Mustangs signed their best class ever in the modern ratings era, including the first-ever five-star recruit out of high school in the Class of 2025. 

"I'm excited about the class. On paper, it's the highest ranked class in the history of our school," Lashlee said. "Top-30 class, around 30 depending on where you look, top-5 class in the ACC. What I'm excited about though is a couple things. One, I think we got the right fits for us. From a high school coming in standpoint, we've got a chance to bring in people that over time will help upgrade our roster, which is every year what you're trying to do."

While this class comes on the heels of the move to the ACC, making the ACC Championship and reaching the College Football Playoff, it was already built before those things happened. That makes Lashlee believe this isn't a one-time thing.

Instead, this class is the new standard for recruiting at SMU.

"I think the second thing that stands out is a shift," Lashlee said. "This group really is the group we signed after the American Conference championship and they knew we were going to be in the ACC, but for the most part a lot had committed before we played a game … and you see the difference already, where there are more high school players than transfers. Which, being in Dallas, being in Texas, now being in a top-3 football conference, we should be able to do that. Now, it didn't hurt that we had a good year and they all stuck around. The 2026 class is the class that will feel the bump from going undefeated in the ACC regular season and playing in the College Football Playoff. So you hope that gives us even more momentum."

Out of the 38-player class, 18 of them are from the state of Texas with 13 from high school, three transfers and a pair of junior college players. Of those 18, 11 of them are from the Metroplex.

Those players used to go elsewhere to play high-level college football. That's not the case anymore.

"This '25 class is a different caliber of player than we've, in the modern era, ever been able to recruit," Lashlee said. "Like I said, 11 players from the Metroplex, that's a big deal to us, and that number may grow. For us to sign the most players out of the Metroplex is a big deal for us in trending towards where we want to go. We want that inside out approach and Dallas is home, so that's where it starts."

That includes five-star offensive tackle Dramodd Odoms out of Houston Lamar. Odoms was rated a five-star recruit by 247Sports and becomes the highest rated recruit ever signed by SMU.

Cibolo Steele receiver Jalen Cooper, IMG Academy quarterback Ty Hawkins and DeSoto receiver Daylon Singleton join Odoms in the Top 10 all-time recruits for the Mustangs, all in this signing class, all from Texas.

"I think it validated that we can recruit with anybody on this level and we have a lot to offer," Lashlee said. "It's cool to go to SMU, it's cool to come to SMU and guys know that, they feel that, now they've seen that. They've seen us on the big stage. I think that's a big deal that validates what we wanted."

The freshmen won't have to wait for their time to come, either. If they show they can help the team now, they will get that chance. It's part of a shift across all of college football, but especially at SMU with the program attracting players who are ready to contribute right away.

"We're going to play them if they're ready. Running back is one and even, I think in what we do, receiver is one that you can play earlier," Lashlee said. "... We have some youth movement kind of happening at those positions and we've got to be OK with that and we've got to understand that, maybe in some areas, we're going to upgrade on some athletic ability and then there may be a learning curve. We've got to be willing to help them grow through that development at the right pace."

The Mustangs are coming off back-to-back 11-win seasons, two conference championship game appearances and a College Football Playoff appearance, but it is still early in the process.

SMU also doesn't want to be a one-hit wonder. The 2025 class will be another step in reaching larger goals and a level of consistency to where conference championships and playoff appearances are the expectation. 

The foundation has been laid and what was accomplished in the 2024 season was just the beginning.

"We want to go back to the playoffs next year, we want to compete for a national championship again, but first we've got to compete for an ACC championship again. Whether or not that happens next year doesn't derail the excitement of what we can build here. We're here to build it for the long haul. We want to win next year, we want to win now, but if we're doing things today that help us, maybe, win a national championship in 2027 or 2028, then so be it. It is fun. I'd be lying if I told you it wasn't exciting. It's fun to try to do stuff that's new, that's fresh, that hasn't been done before. 

"It is cool to go to a Senior Bowl or East-West Shrine Bowl or go to high schools with the Mustang or Triple D or SMU on your shirt and the reception's a little different. It's cool to go to SMU."