SMU starting quarterback Kevin Jennings is one of the first players to enter the football training facility before sunrise, smiling and greeting all the staff members he passes.
Jennings grabs his uniform and goes into the athletic training room to get his ankles taped. One of the trainers asks him how he is doing this week with all of the pressure leading up to the biggest game in the Mustangs’ first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“I am not feeling too much pressure since I’m always excited that I get the opportunity to play for Dallas and my hometown team,” he said.
Jennings hypes his teammates up with positive conversations as he walks onto the practice field at 8 a.m. with his coaches and fellow players. Throwing the ball back and forth, Jennings and one of the other quarterbacks warm up before their drills start.
This is the first season that Jennings has been the starter and the team’s “QB1.” He stepped up and led not only for the team, but for the entire university and the city of Dallas since the highly anticipated conference switch. Jennings, a red-shirt sophomore, has always been a relaxed guy who never lets the stress get to him, even while having to manage 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.
Born and raised in Dallas, Jennings decided to play football after watching his father and uncle play the sport. He began playing football when he was 8 years old. When he starts to feel any stress or fatigue, Jennings remembers how he wants to make his entire family proud. He thinks of his end goal of playing in the NFL and taking care of his family later in life.
Jennings only played in four games 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 during the Mustangs’ last game of the regular season, Jennings helped finish the game with a win.. He started the game against Tulane in the AAC Championship game on Dec. 2, completing a season-high of 48 passes. Jennings helped the team gain the No. 8 ranking their 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 talk to the media.
“I have up to five interviews a week and have never had to do them this much, so I always have to prep and fit these interviews into my schedule now,” Jennings said. “ What is new now is the amount of criticism I receive from everyone. I get a lot of comments and messages from people on social media always criticizing everything after each game.”
At a recent practice, Jennings and one of the other SMU quarterbacks, Keldric Luster, warmed up side by side, throwing balls to the wide receivers. One does not seem to be throwing any farther or stronger than the other. They just have different techniques and ways they throw that work for them. It is noticeable that they have a competitive relationship that makes them better each other, but also a friendship outside of football.
“When competing 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 that Kevin can’t do that I show him as well,” Luster said. “As a player, I would describe him as a magician. There are a lot of things that aren’t normal to do on the football field, but Kevin makes it look normal just by the way he plays.”
After the drill is over, Jennings and Luster high-five each other and when other players come over, Jennings starts making jokes and everyone laughs. Madison Troyer, the SMU football team’s dietician, walks up to 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 huddles up and Jennings steps up to give a speech and pump the team up for the championship game.
The excitement on the field grows and all the players begin cheering. They are ready to face the Clemson Tigers.
