UNIVERSITY PARK — SMU had been quietly conducting a rebrand until Board of Trustees Chair David Miller made a bold statement to an arena full of SMU fans Friday night.
“‘Pony Up’ has died a natural death,” Miller said at a private screening at Moody Coliseum of Thunder On: Resurgence of the SMU Mustangs, the new ESPN documentary airing Sunday that highlights the story of SMU’s athletic program.
For months, SMU had been phasing out the “Pony Up” slogan on its social media platforms. The SMU athletics flagship X account hasn’t used #PonyUp in a post since May. New athletic director Damon Evans used the hashtag frequently in his first few weeks on the job but hasn’t since April 13.
But when Miller made the statement Friday, it led to an outpouring of frustration from fans on social media.
Sports Roundup
“I’m surprised by the negative reaction to it,” Miller told The Dallas Morning News Tuesday. “I didn’t anticipate that. But regardless, it’s fair to say that sometimes change is hard.
“If I had to say it all over again, I don’t know that I would say that ‘Pony Up has died a natural death.’ There may still be opportunities for us to use that theme. But fundamentally, I’m not going to hide the ball.
“We’re SMU Mustangs. We’re not SMU Ponies.”
Related
The “Pony Up” catchphrase has been synonymous with SMU’s programs since 2007. It was born from a marketing campaign and was soon embraced by the fan base and nationally. On SMU’s admissions website, it says: “‘Pony Up’ is SMU’s shared rallying cry and greeting, often accompanied by the ‘pony ears’ gesture: a modified peace sign where you relax your fingers to look like pony ears.”
Many on social media blamed the new leadership for the rebranding. SMU brought in a new president, Jay Hartzell, and athletic director in the last few months. Fans accused the new leadership of losing sight of longstanding traditions.
Miller told The News it was a decision made by head football coach Rhett Lashlee, head basketball coach Andy Enfield, who was hired in April 2024, and Evans.
“I’m happy to take some responsibility for it, but Rhett and Andy and Damon, frankly, the image that they want to project from a recruiting standpoint is not that of a pony. It’s of wild mustangs, charging mustangs,” Miller said.
Both SMU athletic director Damon Evans and head coach Rhett Lashlee said Tuesday that despite the efforts to more closely align the program to the Mustangs, they still encourage fans who wish to use “Pony Up” to do so.
“We love our fans, and we love passionate fans, and if you say, ‘Pony Up’ to me, I’m going to freaking say, ‘Pony Up’ back,” Lashlee said. “And if you say, ‘Go Mustangs,’ I’m gonna say, ‘Go Mustangs.’ And if you say, ‘Kick ‘Em, Stangs,’ I’m going to kick something.”
“There is room for everyone here on the Hilltop,” Evans said in a statement. “Some love Pony Up, some love Go Mustangs. We are going to embrace the strength and boldness of the Mustangs, because that’s who we are, and Pony Up will remain the rallying cry for many of our fans, with traditional and new opportunities to use that theme. We’re all part of the same community, proudly supporting the red and blue.”
Miller said SMU’s mascot Peruna, a Shetland pony, will remain the same. The live mascot has been a part of SMU tradition since 1932.
SMU is the only power conference team with the Mustang mascot. Cal Poly, which plays in the Big Sky Conference at the FCS level, is the only other Division I football team that uses the Mustang.
“I think that’s a big deal, so I think our school, our program, is going to promote us as the Mustangs because that’s who we are,” Lashlee said Tuesday. “There’s nobody trying to hurt traditions that people like. But I think the biggest thing is we are the Mustangs, and we’re on the national stage now. The branding needs to be SMU and the Mustangs, and there needs to be no gray area in that.”
SMU isn’t replacing “Pony Up” with a single catchphrase. #GoMustangs and #MustangsRun have been used as replacement hashtags on its social media. SMU players also wore shirts that said “Kick ‘Em Stangs” on their road trip to Missouri State last weekend. The university is also embracing “Thunder On,” the title of the new documentary.
Miller said director Chip Rives proposed the title, and while it didn’t have much meaning to SMU before, they felt it tied into the new Mustang message.
“It means we’re moving towards the future,” Lashlee said. “Like I said after the Penn State game last year, maybe we can finally close the chapter on the exhausted talking points people like to use about us and talk about us for who we are currently and who we want to be.”
On Twitter/X: @Lassimak
Find more SMU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.