“This is what we’re looking for, we like big fast people,” SMU football head coach Sonny Dykes joked as he introduced his new class of recruits to the public on Wednesday.

To celebrate National Signing Day and get fans excited about the future of Mustang football, Dykes and his staff held a luncheon open to the public to answer questions and show off the players that they’re hoping will lead the team to another winning season.

After their 10-win season in the fall, the program has been able to recruit highly rated players to fill the spots of their play-making seniors. During the Q-and-A portion of the lunch, Dykes explained how much a team’s record impacts recruiting.

“When you have success, what that does is it opens the door to recruiting differently,” said Dykes. “So, if you look at the guys that we are recruiting now for 2021, it’s a lot different than the guys that we were recruiting in 2019.”

The recruiting class ranges in positions from offensive line, to cornerback, but one position that lacks a new signed athlete is kicker, something SMU struggled with this past season. Although they currently have not signed a kicker, Dykes assured fans that they are working on it.

“So much of it is about recruiting to your needs and developing and I think that’s what we do well,” said Dykes.

A big selling point that the staff uses outside of the football program when talking to young players is both the educational opportunities SMU has to offer and its location. Many of the signed players are Dallas-natives, who, according to Dykes, want to represent the city of Dallas and stay close to home for college. These players are similar to quarterback Shane Buechele, who was also in attendance at the event. After going away to college, Buechele transferred to SMU at the start of the 2019-2020 school year in order to be closer to his family in Arlington, and work towards his MBA at the Cox Business School.

“It all begins with a great university, in a great location, with great people that care,” said Dykes.