DALLAS — SMU safety Ahmaad Moses has not been medically cleared to play in Monday’s season opener at Florida State, SMU Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee said Thursday.
Moses has been practicing with SMU through fall camp, and Lashlee said the hold-up is medical rather than legal.
“We are very hopeful. It’s not 100% yet,” Lashlee said. “He’s still got to get medically cleared. That could happen today or tomorrow, but it has not officially happened yet. I don’t think we have any reason to believe it won’t, but it’s still gotta be cleared and I’m not the doctor. So whatever they say is what we’ll do, that’s first and foremost.”
“If he got medically cleared, it’s my understanding that it’s the courts that said he can play, so it has nothing to do with really us, the league, anyone else,” Lashlee continued. “I think he satisfied everything that goes into that TRO order if he’s medically cleared to be able to play.”
Dallas Court Order Cleared Ahmaad Moses To Play
Dallas County District Court Judge Martin Hoffman signed the temporary restraining order on Aug. 27, two days before the 2026 season began. The order restrains the NCAA, the SEC, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey from enforcing NCAA Bylaw 12.6 or any other bylaw to keep the plaintiffs from competing in Division I athletics in 2026-27. It runs 14 days.
About two dozen athletes were covered, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jordan Hudson was among them.
The order followed Wisne v. NCAA. On July 31, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney of Colorado ruled that athletes who graduated high school in 2022 and exhausted their eligibility after the 2025 season could play a fifth season. The NCAA appealed that ruling.
The ACC adopted a separate rule on Aug. 27 barring member schools from rostering players who entered the professional process without withdrawing under NCAA requirements. Moses never signed a pro contract and was never on an NFL roster.
Lashlee has said publicly that he does not like players returning from the pros, and he separates Moses from that group.
“The league’s been great. Ahmaad’s different than a lot of the stuff that’s creating a lot of strife out there,” Lashlee explained. “Like, Ahmaad wasn’t on an NFL roster. He hadn’t signed a pro contract. Depending on what side of the aisle you fall on, whether a kid from 2022 should get a fifth year or not, if you’re going to give one to anyone he would fit, like the most obvious. He would have been drafted in the NFL, but he had a neck injury, had to have surgery, and never redshirted either in four years. As a freshman didn’t play a ton, played for a freshman, but in this new rule he would have another year.”
“So he didn’t, we didn’t apply for a medical or anything like that, and I don’t know if he got it. I’m just saying it’s a different deal,” Lashlee added. “So I’ve been on record as saying I’m not a fan of guys coming back from the pros. This just is a different situation.”
After last season, Moses declared for the 2026 NFL Draft and was invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. An MRI there found a herniated disk. He had spinal fusion surgery and went undrafted.
Ahmaad Moses Led SMU In Tackles In 2025
Moses was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2025. He led SMU in tackles and intercepted five passes, the seventh-most in the FBS.
Against Miami on Nov. 1, Moses had 15 tackles and two interceptions, one of them at the goal line, in a 26-20 overtime win at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. He had 13 tackles against Arizona in the Trust and Will Holiday Bowl on Jan. 2 and was named the game’s defensive MVP.
The Arlington native and Mansfield Summit graduate played 54 games with 19 starts across four seasons at SMU.
Even without Moses, Lashlee likes the safety room, and the depth matters most in the opening minutes.
“You get a guy who’s played four years of ball with that kind of experience, obviously that’s huge,” Lashlee said. “I feel great about the guys, even if he can’t. Jimmy Wyrick has been really good. Having Polley healthy has been good. At nickel, both Jarvis and La’Modrick have been really good. Younger guys like Sael and Jaylen Moses have done some nice things.”
“It does give you a veteran guy, a leadership presence. It gives you a guy who has been there. We know he can play. That’s obvious,” Lashlee noted. “It also gives us good depth because now maybe we can roll more guys and try to stay fresh, especially early. Because game one, you’re also kind of playing yourself into game shape. There’s only so much you can do until you’re in a game setting. And so that will help too. And special teams.”
SMU Lists Seven Players Out For Florida State
SMU listed Moses as questionable on the initial ACC availability report released Thursday night. Receiver Daylon Singleton and safety Jaden Milliner-Jones carry the same designation.
Seven Mustangs are out: running backs Link Rhodes, Christian Rhodes, and EJ Kelly; offensive lineman Abel Hoopii; linebackers Kenneth Goodwin III and Caden Marshall; and cornerback Deuce Gilbert.
The ACC extended its availability reporting window from 48 hours to 72 hours this season. Updated reports are due Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening, with a final report before kickoff.
Milliner-Jones has been fighting a hamstring, and Lashlee said the rest of the roster came out of a 30-day fall camp in reasonable shape.
“That’ll tell the tale. We’ve talked about Ahmaad. We’ve already talked about Link and Abel being out,” Lashlee said. “There is, I’d say [Milliner-Jones is] one that I don’t know if he’ll be available. He’s been really struggling with a hamstring, but most of the other guys, we’re expecting them to be available as of today. So I think, coming out of fall camp, 30 days, we’re in a decent spot.”
Kickoff at Doak Campbell Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m. CT Monday on ESPN. SMU is ranked No. 19 in the AP Top 25 and No. 20 in the coaches poll.
Florida State opened its season Aug. 29 with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State. The Seminoles went 5-7 last season and have not beaten SMU, which won the only previous meeting 42-16 in Dallas in 2024.
