A key member from SMU’s 2025 soccer team is staying in the Dallas area.
Slade Starnes, a defender and captain from the Mustangs’ 2025 ACC Championship team, has signed a homegrown contract with FC Dallas. The Dallas native played his high school soccer at Frisco Lone Star and came up through the FC Dallas Academy and captained the FC Dallas U19 team.
Starnes and the rest of the SMU backline was dominant throughout the 2025 season, holding opponents to an average of just nine shot attempts per game. The Mustangs recorded seven clean sheets. He was a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, United Soccer Coaches second-team All-American and ACC Championship MVP while at SMU.
Prior to his time at SMU, Starnes starred at Furman and was an All-Southern Conference player.
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According to the announcement from FC Dallas, Starnes is under contract through June 2027 with options through the 2028-29 MLS season.
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