Rhett Lashlee Extension
Colombia mudslide kills hundreds – channel 4 news. Colombia mudslide kills hundreds – channel 4 news
Right, settle down. We need to discuss the elephant in the locker room: Rhett Lashlee has signed a contract extension with SMU, and by all accounts the figures on the dotted line are so outrageously generous that they ought to come with a complimentary oxygen mask. The man who walked into Dallas a few years back with a visor, a clipboard and the sort of boyish enthusiasm you normally associate with an overexcited Labrador has now been rewarded as though he single-handedly discovered a new oilfield underneath the Mustangs' rather splendid home ground. And here is the best part: he has absolutely earned every single penny.
For those who have been living under a rather large rock, or indeed anybody still trying to work out what a "power conference" actually is, Lashlee turned SMU into something approaching a genuine national force. He guided the team into the ACC with all the confidence of a chap marching into a members-only golf club and asking for a round of Fosters, and then had the sheer audacity to bag a place in the College Football Playoff. It is the sort of transformation that normally gets optioned by Hollywood, except Hollywood would insist on adding a romantic subplot and a charismatic dog.
The Financial Plumbing Behind the Rhett Lashlee Extension
Naturally, numbers have been bandied about, because they always are. Insiders mutter about an annual salary that would comfortably buy a small fleet of luxury cars, or indeed a rather decent house in central Manchester with change left over for a posh kettle. The buyout, meanwhile, is reportedly set so high that poaching Lashlee would require the kind of financial commitment usually reserved for hosting the Olympic Games. SMU have essentially wrapped their man in several layers of economic cling film, and you know what? Good for them. In a sport where head coaches are sometimes discarded quicker than a soggy chip that has fallen onto a pub carpet, it is genuinely heartening to see loyalty rewarded with actual, spendable currency.
A Sobering Interlude: Putting the Lashlee Extension Into Perspective
Now, hold your horses. Before we get too carried away celebrating the contents of Lashlee's bulging wallet, it is worth pausing, because the wider world has a horrible habit of reminding us what genuine adversity looks like. The image above, which shows the awful aftermath of a mudslide in Colombia that buried homes and claimed a heartbreaking number of lives, is the kind of sobering slap in the face that puts everything neatly into perspective. There were families who lost everything in a few terrible minutes of shifting earth, and emergency crews who worked around the clock in conditions that would make the most hardened Premier League groundskeeper weep. Our sincere condolences go to everyone affected by that tragedy. Football, bless its over-commercialised American-styled heart, is ultimately a welcome distraction from reality, never a substitute for it. So please, do take a quiet moment of reflection before returning to the jolly news from Dallas.
What Does This Extension Mean for the Rest of College Football?
Back to the gridiron, then, with a newly fortified bounce in our step. Lashlee's extension sends a clear message to the rest of the college football landscape, and it goes roughly like this: the Mustangs are not going anywhere, and neither is their visor-wearing ringmaster. Prospective recruits will look at SMU and see stability. Rival coaches will look at SMU and sigh heavily into their cups of lukewarm coffee. And the university's athletic department will look at their bank statements and quietly reassure themselves that a good coach is considerably cheaper than a bad one. In the grand, gloriously daft soap opera that is American college sport, this particular plot twist feels jolly sensible. So doff your cap to Mr Lashlee, pour yourself a proper cup of tea, and strap in for what promises to be a wildly entertaining ride.