DALLAS — Preston Stone made plenty of tough decisions on his road to becoming a Division I quarterback.
He strayed from the traditional UIL football path to become a Dallas-area record-setting quarterback and two-time TAPPS state champion at Parish Episcopal.
He passed up offers from Texas and Alabama to follow in his father’s and brother’s footsteps and attend SMU.
As a Dallas native who lived and breathed Texas football for the first 23 years of his life, decisions that may have seemed difficult to some were no-brainers for Stone, who managed to live out his childhood dreams of leading the Mustangs to a conference championship and power-conference status.
The first real difficult decision for Stone came in the last year when the door closed on his chance to continue as SMU’s starting quarterback. Instead of driving a few miles down the road and putting on the jersey he’s worn since childhood for his first day of fall camp, this July, Stone traveled nearly 1,000 miles away and put on a purple jersey for the first time.
“By the time we started camp a few days ago, I kind of already felt this was my second home,” Stone said in a recent interview with The Dallas Morning News after making the move to Evanston, Ill., to play for Northwestern. “Coming up here and playing here in general has kind of reinvigorated my love for football again. It’s been incredible to have a clean slate.”
This time last year, Stone was expected to lead SMU as its starting quarterback in its first season in the ACC. Now, he’s in the Big Ten, starting for the Northwestern Wildcats as a graduate transfer. It’s his first time playing for a team outside of Texas.
While Stone began last season for SMU as the starter, the Mustangs intended to rotate two quarterbacks. But as John Madden once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.”
SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee quickly learned splitting time between Stone and sophomore Kevin Jennings wouldn’t work and soon awarded Jennings the starting spot.
“It was not an easy decision in terms of the fact that Preston’s a winner,” Lashlee said at the time. “We feel like [Kevin] gives us the best chance to win with this team.”
Stone saw the field sparingly from there and watched from the sidelines as Lashlee was proven right, and Jennings led SMU to the ACC title game and College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
“From a team standpoint, last year was incredible,” Stone said. “We got to go on a run that was unforeseen and got to beat a ton of odds that were stacked against us. But just from a personal standpoint, it wasn’t exactly the season I was hoping for. Being up here has reinvigorated that personal love of football again.”
A FRESH START
Stone earned the starting job at Northwestern before the team even had its first official practice together.
Northwestern head coach David Braun made the announcement at Big Ten Media Days in July in Las Vegas.
“My opportunity to get to know Preston through the recruiting process and since he arrived on campus, yes I have been impressed with his football knowledge, his processing, his accuracy, his leadership, but what I’ve been most excited about and most impressed with is his ability to quickly build relationships with his teammates,” Braun said. “He is someone that our team truly rallies around, enjoys being around and is a special leader at that quarterback position.”
There won’t be any quarterback competition as it currently stands. Jack Lausch, who started for Northwestern at quarterback in 2024, has pivoted to play baseball for the Wildcats. None of the other rostered quarterbacks have seen more than one game of action in the last two seasons.
After longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired ahead of the 2023 season amid a hazing scandal, Braun took over and led Northwestern to a surprise 8-5 season. But the Wildcats took a step back in 2024, going 4-8.
It wasn’t long ago that Northwestern went to two Big Ten title games in three years. But the Wildcats have been largely rebuilding since and have been in need of a proven quarterback to lead them.
That’s where Stone comes in. As the starter in 2023 for SMU, he passed for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns, as the Mustangs went on to win their first conference title in 39 years.
Out of high school when Stone chose a program in the American Athletic Conference, many questioned his decision. Last year was supposed to be his chance to prove his ability on a power conference stage. While it didn’t go as planned, he’ll now face an even bigger challenge in the conference that produced the national champion last season and earned more College Football Playoff spots than any other.
“The Big Ten is the best conference in football. That’s the dream,” Stone said. “I think I got a little bit of a knock on myself coming out of high school choosing SMU, being in the American. People assumed I was joining a team that was playing in a conference that wasn’t going to play any tough competition. Now, I get to go and play the best of the best each Saturday.”
AN UNBREAKABLE BOND
Stone and SMU quarterbacks coach D’Eriq King still talk twice a week.
It’s mostly jokes. Sometimes, it’s advice.
When Stone is back at Dallas, he and King always try to get together. He still works out at SMU in the offseason and spends time with his former teammates.
“I feel like I have a great relationship with everyone in the locker room at SMU and the coaching staff,” Stone said. “I feel like I left the school on great terms. I’m very proud to have graduated with my degree from Cox [School of Business]. Looking back on my experience at SMU, I’m really just nothing but grateful.”
That’s a rare situation in the transfer portal era of college sports. Players that don’t earn the starting job often leave with hard feelings and burnt bridges. But Stone and his family never wanted to leave SMU on those terms.
His coaches and teammates never wanted that either.
“It’s super important for us to maintain that relationship because he did everything the right way,” King said. “He’s an absolute pro.
“Last year, you can’t handle that situation better than he did, especially in this day and age when these kids get sensitive and they want to go on Twitter and talk bad about people. He was a pro, and I think that’s why here the relationships matter more anyways. He knows football is football, but outside, we’ve got a deeper relationship than just ball.”
Stone’s brother Parker still serves as an assistant tight ends coach at SMU. His father is still a proud and involved alumnus.
Even though his football journey took him away from the Hilltop and out of Texas, Stone’s connection to SMU remains strong.
But more importantly, his connection to football has been restored through his fresh start.
“No matter where I live, I’ll always know and believe that Texas has the best football culture in the world,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better from grade school to high school to college and all the way up to the pros. Texas will always have the best atmosphere and highest love of the game.
“Regardless of which jersey I’m wearing, I’ve just been having a ton of fun playing football in general since I’ve gotten up here. I definitely feel honored to be a part of the program.”
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
SMU quarterbacks Kevin Jennings (7) and Preston Stone (2) warm up before an NCAA football game against TCU at Ford Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)
SMU quarterback Preston Stone throws a pass before the ACC championship game against Clemson, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)