SMU had made just 3 of 7 field-goal attempts through the first four games of the season — a shaky start that left the Mustangs searching for answers at kicker. Brendan Baird, a converted soccer player who was not even on scholarship at the time, delivered those answers on October 17 against Virginia, making all five kicks he attempted in a 23-13 win, including a career-best 45-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
A Perfect Day Against Virginia
Baird's outing against Virginia included three field goals and two extra points, according to sports.yahoo.com. Entering that game, he had missed his only field-goal attempt of the season and had gone 6 for 7 on extra points, the outlet reported. The 45-yarder stood out as a career best for Baird, who only recently transitioned from the soccer pitch to the football field.
Baird earned the starting job while Nick Reed, who had been SMU's starting kicker to begin the season, was battling an injury, per the same report. SMU also made a change at holder during the stretch, with true freshman Wiley Olson stepping in for punter Wade McSparron by the time the Virginia game arrived.
From Soccer Walk-On to Football Roster
Baird spent six months trying to convince SMU's football coaches to add him to the roster — and when the offer finally came, he actually turned it down at first, the Yahoo Sports report notes. He was not on scholarship at the time and needed to find a way to pay for his master's degree in AI and business, a financial reality that shaped his early decisions about joining the program.
Baird's path to the kicking job began on the soccer side of SMU athletics. According to his profile on smumustangs.com, he was a member of the SMU Men's Soccer Team and was listed as a senior in 2025; in 2024, he made four appearances and logged 92 minutes for the soccer program. He hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico, per the same team biography.
Early-Season Struggles That Forced a Change
Before Baird's emergence, SMU's kicking troubles were well documented. In the team's win over Missouri State, both Nick Reed and Baird missed field-goal attempts, according to Yahoo Sports' earlier coverage of SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee's search for answers at the position.
A November 7 Dallas News article reported that Baird went 3 for 3 in a win over Virginia Tech and had made his last eight field-goal attempts by that point, including three field goals in that contest.
SMU's early kicking uncertainty reflected the Mustangs' season-opening struggles at the position. Baird's perfect day against Virginia came at a moment when the program badly needed stability at the position, turning an early-season liability into a weapon over the course of just a few weeks.
