UM to hire architect of one of nation’s most potent offenses for coordinator job
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, UM plans to hire SMU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rhett Lashlee for the same job at Miami, according to a source close to the program, thus giving the Hurricanes a bright young mind who ran a high-octane, spread offense that finished in the top 10 in the country in yards and points this season.
Though UM reached out to others, Lashlee, 36, was coach Manny Diaz’s top choice, according to a source.
His SMU offense finished ninth in average yards per game (489.8) and seventh in points (41.8) this season. He was a semifinalist this season for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top college football assistant coach.
Under Lashlee’s guidance, SMU was 13th in passing this season at 309 yards per game and 43rd in rushing offense at 180.8 yards per game. LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, UCF and Oklahoma were the only teams that averaged more points this season than SMU.
Lashlee, a native of Springdale, Ark. who was a walk-on quarterback at Arkansas, was previously offensive coordinator at Samford (2011), Arkansas State (2012), Auburn (2013-16) and Connecticut (2017).
Diaz announced earlier this week that he wants Miami’s offense to transition from a pro style attack to an up-tempo spread, and Lashlee is considered one of most accomplished young coordinators in running that fast-paced system.
In his one year at Samford (2011), the team’s offense improved, jumping to 57th to 46th nationally.
He then followed Gus Malzahn, with whom he has had a long history, when Malzahn left Auburn and became coach at Arkansas State. With Lashlee as offensive coordinator, Arkansas State that year was 23th nationally in yardage and 26th in points at 34.9 per game.
Malzhan returned to Auburn after one year and brought Lashlee with him as offensive coordinator. Lashlee helped Auburn to the 2013 SEC Championship, a BCS Championship berth and the 2016 Sugar Bowl, managing one of the more prolific offenses in college football during his tenure.
The 2013-14 seasons were the best back-to-back offensively in Auburn history, and the 2014 squad set an Auburn record for total offense. Lashlee also served as the quarterbacks coach and Auburn finished 12th and 17th nationally in average yards per game during those two seasons.
By 2016, however, Malzahn had taken back the reins of the offense in an effort to save his job and as a result, Lashlee had less control. In 2017, Lashlee moved on to be Connecticut’s offensive coordinator.
In his only season there, Lashlee improved the Huskies’ offense significantly, as UConn jumped from 122nd to 49th in total offense and from 94th to 34th in passing offense.
He left for SMU in January 2018 and in his first season there, the Mustang offense ranked 27th nationally in passing offense at 271.7 yards per game.
And SMU’s offense blossomed into a top 10 unit this season behind Lashlee’s play-calling and transfer quarterback Shane Buechele.
After working as a graduate assistant at Arkansas in 2006, Lashlee left coaching for two years. Lashlee and his brother-in-law wrote, published, and marketed High School Sports The Magazine (later renamed Vype), a publication about prep sports in Arkansas.
Lashlee then joined Auburn as a graduate assistant in 2009, assisting Malzahn with all aspects of the offense and then coaching the quarterbacks and slot receivers in 2010.
Lashlee was a backup quarterback at Arkansas from 2002 to 2004 before a shoulder injury ended his career. He attempted only one career pass.
Diaz fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos after one season in which Miami was in the bottom third of all major offensive categories. The Hurricanes were 129th of 130 schools in third-down conversions, 122nd in red-zone offense, 122nd in average yards rushing per game, 98th in yards per game (367.2) and 90th in scoring offense (25.7 points per game).
SMU was 30th nationally in third down conversion percentage, incidentally.
Miami also reached out to Virginia offensive coordinator Robert Anae on Thursday regarding his interest in interviewing for the offensive coordinator job but informed him Friday afternoon that they are going in a different direction, with Lashlee the choice.
After The Miami Herald first reported Lashlee’s hiring, footballscoop.com reported that SMU offensive quality control coach Jonathan Brewer will follow Lashlee to UM.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 5:31 PM.
