SMU starting quarterback Kevin Jennings is one of the first players to enter the football practice facility before sunrise, smiling as he greets every staff member he passes.

Jennings grabs his uniform and goes to the training room to get his ankles taped. One of the coaches asks him how he’s feeling this week despite all the pressure leading up to the biggest game of the Mustangs’ first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I don’t feel too much pressure as I’m always happy to get the opportunity to play for Dallas and my hometown team,” he said.

Jennings inspires his teammates with positive conversations as he steps onto the practice field at 8 a.m. with his coaches and teammates. Jennings and one of the other quarterbacks throw the ball back and forth and warm up before their drills begin.

This is the first season that Jennings is the team’s starter and “QB1.” Since the highly anticipated conference change, he has been responsible not only for the team, but for the entire university and the city of Dallas. Jennings, a sophomore, has always been a laid-back guy who never let stress get the best of him, even when he had to take care of school, football and his personal well-being.

The qualities that make Jennings a leader were first recognized in 2021 when he helped South Oak Cliff High School become the first Dallas ISD football team to win a state championship since 1958.

Jennings was born and raised in Dallas. He decided to play football after watching his father and uncle play. He started playing football at the age of 8. When he feels stress or fatigue, Jennings remembers how he wants to make his entire family proud. He thinks about his end goal of playing in the NFL and taking care of his family later in life.

Jennings only played four games in his first year. In his second year in 2023, he started behind SMU’s Preston Stone, appearing in eight games and making two starts. When Stone suffered an ankle injury in the Mustangs’ final game of the regular season, Jennings helped close out the game with a win. He started the game against Tulane in the AAC championship game on December 2 and hit a season-high 48 passes. Jennings helped the team finish eighth in its first year in a new conference and is now leading the Mustangs to the ACC Championship game against Clemson this weekend.

The biggest adjustment this year for Jennings has been learning how to speak to the media.

“I have up to five interviews a week and have never had to do them that often, so now I always have to prepare and fit these interviews into my schedule,” Jennings said. “What’s new now is the amount of criticism I’m getting from everyone. I get a lot of comments and messages from people on social media who always criticize everything after every game.”

At a recent practice, Jennings and one of the other SMU quarterbacks, Keldric Luster, warmed up side by side and threw balls to the wide receivers. One doesn’t seem to throw any further or harder than the other. They simply have different techniques and ways of doing this work for themselves. It’s noticeable that they have a competitive relationship that makes each other better, but also a friendship outside of football.

“When we compete with Kevin, it’s like we feed off each other because there are a lot of things I can’t do that Kevin shows me, but a lot of things Kevin can’t do that I show him too,” Luster said. “As a player, I would describe him as a magician. There are a lot of things that aren’t normal on the football field, but Kevin makes it look normal by the way he plays.”

After the practice ends, Jennings and Luster high-five each other, and as other players walk by, Jennings starts making jokes and everyone laughs. Madison Troyer, the SMU football team’s nutritionist, approaches him and gives him water.

“Kevin is a very down-to-earth person and the way he carries himself is why everyone wants to be around him,” Troyer said.

At the end of practice, the team gathers and Jennings steps forward to give a speech and get the team ready for the championship game.

The excitement on the field grows and all the players start to cheer. They are ready to take on the Clemson Tigers.