Rhett Lashlee named one of top 12 CFB assistants soon to be head coach
The Miami football program is fortunate to have offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee returning for the 2021 season. Lashlee was named as one of 12 “Next up: College football assistants who will soon be head coaches.” by 247Sports.Com.
Another season of improvement by the Miami offense and Rhett Lashlee is likely to get head coaching offers. The Miami offense improved from 367.2 yards per game and 98th in 2019 to 33rd and 439.8 yards per game in 2020 in the first season under Lashlee.
Lashlee is fourth on the 247 list among college football assistants who will soon be head coaches. Lashlee is entering his 11th season as a college football offensive coordinator. The first offensive coordinator position Lashlee held was at Samford in 2011.
The first FBS offensive coordinator Lashlee held was a year later at Arkansas State. After Gus Malzahn was hired by Auburn from Arkansas State, Lashlee joined him. That began a four-year stint at Auburn. Lashlee left to become the OC at UConn in 2017 and then SMU in 2018 and ’19 before Manny Diaz hired him at Miami.
"RHETT LASHLEE, MIAMI OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR (5 votes)Age: 37Salary: N/AMiami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee is a Gus Malzahn disciple, but has branched out and implemented new elements to his own offense in three stops since his days at Auburn.Lashlee led SMU to the seventh-best scoring offense in 2019 and was hired by Miami’s Manny Diaz, who needed a big upgrade at coordinator after the Hurricanes ranked 90th in scoring and failed to score in a loss to Louisiana Tech in a bowl game.The result: Miami jumped to 26th nationally in scoring offense and the record improved from 6-7 to 8-3. Lashlee’s name has been tied to some mid-level head coaching gigs, but it appears the coordinator is waiting for a bigger gig.A top-15 offense with D’Eriq King back at quarterback in 2021 might just land him that first big job leading a program."
Lashlee is expected to oversee an improvement in 2021 as Miami returns everyone on offense in 2021 except tight end Brevin Jordan. Jordan is expected to be a first-round pick in 2021. Jordan missed three games in 2020 with an injury so Lashlee had a chance to game plan for his personnel without the likely early-round NFL Draft pick.
Miami returns Jordan’s backup in 2020, Will Mallory who started over the last two seasons in his absence. The key to the Miami offense in 2021 is the return of Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback D’Eriq King. King transformed the Miami offense in 2020. King might be the best dual-threat QB in college football.
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King completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 2,686 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran for 538 yards and four TDs. The play of the Miami offense was elevated because of King. If King can approach or exceed his numbers in 2021 that will elevate the profile for Lashlee and improves his chances of becoming a HC.