Preston Stone’s heavy shoulders – Yahoo Sports

Northwestern is very happy to have Preston Stone.

You could see it in David Braun’s face as the head coach showered his starting quarterback in compliments at Big Ten media days back in July. His eyes get all big as he describes watching Stone’s SMU tape. He’s Kevin McCallister at the Plaza as he recalls the chase to land the quarterback in the portal.

“The quarterback from SMU? We’ve got to go get that guy,” Braun said.

Braun waited until the morning of Northwestern’s season opener to announce his starting quarterback in each of his first two seasons as head coach. He named Stone as his starter 38 days before the first game of his third. He’d already dropped most of the smoke screens by April, and he let the quarterback room know at the end of spring practices in late May.

Stone himself appears more than comfortable in his new home, even as he goes through the first fall camp of his football career outside of Dallas. At a press conference in mid-August, he gushed that summer in Evanston is “much better” than summer in his hometown.

“I’ll go down to practice, it’s 75 degrees, there’s a lake right next to the practice field,” Stone said. “It doesn’t get any better.”

Stone has endeared himself to his teammates since arriving as a transfer in January. The go-to anecdote, as told by offensive coordinator Zach Lujan at Northwestern’s pro day, is that Stone was the first player elected to lead one of Northwestern’s 10 offseason workout groups less than two months after first enrolling in classes.

Northwestern’s hopes for a bounce-back year in 2025 rest more on Preston Stone’s shoulders than any other member of the Wildcat program. Uncertain quarterback play topped the grocery list of problems plaguing Northwestern in a 4-8 season a year ago. Two games of Mike Wright and 10 games of Jack Lausch saw Northwestern amass just seven total passing touchdowns in 2024. In Stone’s last full season as a starter with SMU in 2023, he threw for four times that.

Stone comes to Evanston with a strong track record of leaving programs better than he found them. He was benched for Kevin Jennings three games into his final season at SMU, but his enduring legacy at his hometown program will be helping deliver the school’s first conference title in nearly four decades as the starter in 2023.

Parish Episcopal High School was readying for its first season in the top division of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) before Stone arrived as a freshman in the fall of 2017. He left them with two state championships.

Yet however at home Stone feels in Evanston – however much praise is heaped onto him by his new teammates and coaches, however long the trail of trophies he leaves behind – to understand Northwestern’s newly-minted starting quarterback is to know one thing: Preston Stone was never meant to end up here.

He was never meant to leave Dallas.

Daniel Novakov remembers the first time he saw Preston Stone throw a football.

The Parish Episcopal high school head coach was introduced to his former quarterback through a grainy backyard mixtape that looks like it was shot on the first ever iPhone. Stone is a rising fifth grader in the clip, and he looks the part, standing at a generous four-and-a-half feet tall.

His father, Ted, moves him across their makeshift pocket – back, this way, this way, up, back – before a young Stone slots the ball past their shoebox camera and into Ted’s arms.

“The scary thing is you can tell if kids are special immediately,” says Novakov. “The talent is just so evident, and it just sticks out at you from day one. The thing I remember most is the very first time I saw him touch and throw a football, [thinking], ‘Holy cow, this is different.’”

Novakov and Stone go back as far as Pee-Wee football when Stone was 11-years-old. When Novakov was promoted from offensive coordinator to the head job at Parish ahead of Stone’s freshman year of high school, Stone transferred out of local powerhouse Highland Park to join him.

Neither Parish nor Novakov had a track record of producing college quarterbacks at the time. Highland Park was the spot if you wanted to play private school football in Dallas. Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won three straight state titles there from 2006-2008.

“I’m forever grateful for him because he took a chance at the time,” says Novakov. “Parish has grown into a well-known Dallas football power, but most of that is a result of Preston taking a leap of faith.”

Novakov is underselling it.

Parish had just one state championship in its history competing in TAPPS’s second division when Novakov took the job ahead of the 2017 season. Stone started for first-year head coach as a 14-year-old, throwing for 2,937 yards and 29 touchdowns even as Parish dealt with some growing pains in the school’s first season after moving up to Texas’ top private school division.

Stone was voted captain ahead of his sophomore season – the first underclassman captain in school history.

Parker Stone, Preston’s second-oldest brother who played wide receiver with him both at Parish and SMU, recalls a group of senior leaders on the team giving the young quarterback their stamp of approval during his freshman season.

“I’ve never really had to push him too much in that sense, he’s always been a natural leader,” Parker said. “But some of the older guys on the team [told him], ‘Hey, man, you’re our quarterback, we trust you. We know what you’re capable of, and we want you even more to be a vocal leader. We’re letting you take hold of the reins.”

Stone’s first true moment in the national spotlight came in the season opener of his junior year, when Parish faced Shedeur Sanders and Trinity Christian in a game nationally broadcast on ESPN2. Sanders, who was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, was coached by his father, NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, throughout his high school and college career.

Carter Yates, a high school football reporter for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, argues that Stone was the bigger name at the time.

“The game is on ESPN because Deion Sanders [is the coach] and Shedeur is the quarterback,” says Yates, “but that game’s also on ESPN because Preston Stone was that dude at Parish Episcopal. At that point, he had more offers than Shedeur did.”

“I’d never heard of Parish Episcopal until Preston got there.”

Carter Yates, High school football reporter for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football

Stone’s offense was shut out in the first half, but Parish put up 27 points in the quarters three and four to force overtime. Stone, who is on record saying that he wore No. 2 in high school for Texas A&M legend Johnny Manziel, channeled his inner-Johnny football for a 24-yard walk-off touchdown run in the extra period.

“It was a big deal, not only because it was Preston versus Shedeur,” says Parker. “Parish, we’re a smaller private school, we don’t get to play in a ton of big games. It was a great opportunity. We had some other really good players in that team that probably weren’t being recruited [as much as they should.]”

Parish would go on to win three consecutive TAPPS state championships after Stone left for SMU in 2021. Sawyer Anderson, Stone’s successor at quarterback, broke Stone’s passing records last fall and committed to the University of Arizona.

Parker Stone, Yates and Novakov all cite the current Northwestern quarterback as the catalyst for Parish’s emergence.

“I grew up in Frisco, which is 20, 30 minutes north of Dallas, I played football, I was enmeshed in the culture,” says Yates. “I’d never heard of Parish Episcopal until Preston got there.”

Stone and his two older brothers grew up fans of the Dallas-based SMU Mustangs. Ted Stone was an alum, and he wouldn’t have his sons brought up any other way.

The Stone brothers could regularly be found atop the hill behind the South end zone at Gerald R. Ford Stadium, winning national championships for the Mustangs on the worn-down patch of grass as SMU stacked bowl appearances in Conference USA below them.

Stone was an elite quarterback recruit in high school, riding his four-star pedigree and a live right arm to a 44-school offer list that included Texas, Alabama and Ohio State. He chose his hometown Mustangs over them all.

“We always had this vision,” says Parker, who joined SMU as a walk-on the same year that Preston committed out of high school. “[We grew up] in a different era of SMU football. There were never many people in the stands, not a lot of big names coming into Ford Stadium. We’d literally speak it out loud, this vision of filling that stadium and playing for championships.”

Stone was the highest-ranked recruit to sign with SMU since 1987 when the NCAA sanctioned the school’s football program with the “death penalty,” prohibiting the Mustangs from fielding a team for the 1987 and 1988 seasons for a litany of recruiting violations.

The rebirth was already underway when Stone committed in January of 2020. A generation of billionaire boosters, their scars from the death penalty-era still fresh, had begun to pour their wealth into the Mustang program. The legalization of name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments was as important a moment as any in SMU’s climb back to the mountaintop of college football. SMU cemented its return to power conference football on Sept. 1, 2023, accepting an invitation to the ACC.

“We always had this vision. [We grew up] in a different era of SMU football. There were never many people in the stands, not a lot of big names coming into Ford Stadium. We’d literally speak it out loud, this vision of filling that stadium and playing for championships.”

Parker Stone

Yet the story of the Mustangs’ resurgence cannot be told without Stone. Billy Embody, a veteran reporter for On3 who has covered SMU since 2012, describes Stone’s commitment as a watershed moment in SMU recruiting.

“[He] really gave a lot of recruits the nudge that it was okay to commit to SMU as a big name guy with offers, with a high ranking,” says Embody. “He legitimized that option for players in Dallas.”

The former blue-chip prospect got hurt in his first start as he filled in for an injured Tanner Mordecai as a redshirt freshman, suffering a broken collarbone after throwing for 219 yards and a touchdown in the first half of a 2022 win over Tulsa. Stone would get his shot as a starter again in 2023, and he more than lived up to his high billing.

Stone passed for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns on the way to a 10-2 finish in his first season as SMU’s starting quarterback. The Mustangs would beat Tulane in the 2023 American Athletic Conference championship game to earn the program’s first conference title since 1984, and Stone was named Third-Team all-conference.

It is almost biblical that Stone didn’t take the last step with that 2023 team. He broke his fibula in the first half of SMU’s season finale against Navy in the midst of the best game of his career. His stat line is out of a video game. Before his injury seven-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter, Stone had already thrown for 322 yards and three touchdowns.

Stone’s replacement, redshirt freshman Kevin Jennings, played admirably in the win over Tulane. But it was still Stone’s team heading into the 2024 season — SMU’s first playing in the ACC.

Looking at the newly constructed $150 million complex that had replaced the patch of grass in the south end zone where Stone’s SMU football story began, he reveled in his opportunity in an interview with Yates.

“I’ve watched SMU my whole life. I was going to games when that was still a grass hill over there,” said Stone. “There have been a lot of things in my life that have brought me to this season.”

There were signs that something was off at ACC media days in mid-July.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee brought both Stone and Jennings to the three-day festivities in Charlotte. Jennings had led SMU over Tulane in the AAC Championship, but Stone was all-conference in the 12 games prior. The passing of the torch was at least a year away. Most thought nothing of it.

Then, two weeks before SMU’s season opener against Nevada, a reporter asked offensive coordinator Casey Woods who would be his starting quarterback. The question felt like a formality.

But Woods told the reporter that he felt SMU could win with either, whether it was Stone or Jennings under center to start the season.

Stone was eventually named the starter a week later. His numbers were passable as SMU limped to a Week 0 victory over Nevada — 17-for-30 for 254 yards, one touchdown and one interception — but the Mustang offense was clunky. Jennings also featured briefly in the victory, completing four of his five passes for 51 yards.

Lashley continued to play the two-quarterback game to diminishing returns in games against Houston Christian and BYU. Jennings took the lion’s share of snaps in a 59-7 win over HCU, though Stone still got the start, and both led multiple touchdown drives in the first two quarters.

SMU’s Week 3 matchup with BYU would be Stone’s last as the Mustangs’ starting quarterback. His offense went three-and-out on the Mustangs’ first three drives, and Lashlee made the switch to Jennings for the rest of the game, a rock-fight which BYU went on to win 18-15.

“We’re not performing well offensively but if you watch, we’ve moved the ball better when [Kevin’s] in there as a team,” said Lashlee in the press conference after the loss. He’d name Jennings as the starter going forward three days later.

Yates, who covered SMU full-time during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, speculates that Stone was still hampered by the leg injury he suffered against Navy some eight months prior. Embody isn’t sure that the injury affected Stone’s mobility, but he still cites it as a key moment.

“If [Stone] doesn’t get hurt, and Kevin didn’t play in that championship game and bowl game, you wonder going into 2024 if there was even a question,” says Embody. “But Kevin played well enough that there was at least a question and a competition, even long before anybody knew.”

SMU quarterbacks coach D’Eriq King, who says he and Stone still call at least once every week, maintains that Jennings was just the better man for the job.

“Preston was really good for [2023]…and he was good for [2024] as well,” says King. “We just thought that the team needed something different at QB. And we thought what Kevin gave at that time was what we needed. It was nothing more than that.”

Privately, Stone took the news hard.

He was Dallas’ chosen son, the hometown kid who had chosen SMU before recruits of his caliber gave the Mustangs a second look, before the money. Stone took immense pride in leading SMU in the program’s first season playing power conference football in nearly four decades.

It was the moment of his football life, the culmination of a childhood spent at Ford Stadium, of the championship dreams he shared with his brother, of the expectations that came with arriving at SMU as the biggest recruit in the history of the program.

“I got to truly understand the role of a servant leader,” Stone said at a mid-August media availability. “You put in all of the work in the offseason, and then even going back to when you’re a little kid, you dream of being the guy on Saturdays. And then that’s when that opportunity is taken away from you.”

Publicly and with his teammates, the overwhelming consensus is that Stone did everything the right way, and then some. Those close to Stone and the SMU program have run out of superlatives to describe his final season in Dallas.

“It’s honestly one of the more incredible and inspiring things I’ve ever seen,” says Parker, who currently serves as an assistant tight ends coach for the Mustangs. “The way he handled it throughout the whole season was intentional…the way he focused his mindset, the way he interacted with his teammates, the way he interacted with the coaches, the fans. It was a struggle internally every day. But he never let that situation turn into a negative.”

King says he leaned on Stone in the quarterback room throughout the 2024 season, and he is eager to note that Stone maintained an excellent relationship with Jennings.

“Preston was like a big brother when [Jennings] first got there, showing him the ropes,” says King. “When Kevin took over last year, Preston was supportive of him, he’d help out in any way he could. He’s All-American as a person.”

“I got to truly understand the role of a servant leader. You put in all of the work in the offseason, and then even going back to when you’re a little kid, you dream of being the guy on Saturdays. And then that’s when that opportunity is taken away from you.”

Preston Stone

Lashlee told reporters that he would “still need Preston Stone to win football games” in the press conference announcing his decision to make the switch to Jennings. His statement would ring true two weeks later against No. 22 Louisville. Jennings took a hit in the red zone that knocked the wind out of him mid-way through the first quarter, and Stone entered the game on the Louisville 5-yard line with the game tied at seven.

The first play was a false start. The left guard jumped early, and SMU moved back five yards to the Louisville 10. Jennings remained on the sidelines.

SMU called a run-pass-option, giving Stone, who hadn’t played a meaningful snap since the loss to BYU, the option to take a shot if he liked what he saw at the line of scrimmage.

Stone saw press coverage on the outside and pulled back the handoff to throw. He lofted up a high-fade to the front-left corner of the end zone, and wide receiver Key’Shawn Smith came down with a catch. One play, one touchdown.

Lashlee was emotional talking about the touchdown pass in the press conference after SMU’s 34-27 victory.

“I mean, who has someone like Preston Stone to step into that situation?” he said, choking back tears. “We do. Just really cool.”

SMU would go on to win 11 games and qualify for the college football playoff in the school’s first season in the ACC. Jennings threw for 3,245 yards and 23 touchdowns and added five more scores on the ground. He enters the 2025 season as a dark horse candidate for the Heisman trophy.

The transfer portal opened before the first round of the playoffs, and Stone found himself in the awkward position of exploring potential new schools while preparing for SMU’s matchup against Penn State. King, a decorated collegiate quarterback himself who transferred from Houston to Miami in 2020, says that Stone handled that situation with grace as well. When Braun announced Stone as his starting quarterback, the news was met with a flood of support on social media from Stone’s former teammates at SMU.

Novakov says he spoke with Stone often throughout the 2024 season. He corroborates all the stories told by Stone’s teammates and coaches that he never let his situation turn into a negative.

The Parish Episcopal head coach also thinks that his former quarterback could benefit from a fresh start.

[There was] a lot of pressure on him being the Dallas hometown hero that was going to save the program, the biggest recruit in the history of the school, and all those things,” Novakov said. “Just from when I’ve seen him, there’s a little bit of relief that he’s not got so much local pressure. I think it’ll be good for him to get out of Dallas.”

Stone was announced as one of Northwestern’s five captains for the 2025 season on Aug. 20.

Cam Porter, a sixth-year running back, became the second in Northwestern history to be elected three times. Carmine Bastone, a former walk-on entering his fifth season with the ‘Cats, is now one of 20 to be elected twice.

It goes without saying that Stone was the only incoming transfer elected of the five, and anyone who has followed Northwestern football this summer will tell you that Stone’s inclusion was no surprise. The stories are all the same.

Star Wildcat edge rusher Anto Saka spoke on Stone’s leadership at Big Ten media days, telling reporters that his killer first impression has its origins in the weight room.

“One of the things that [Stone] said that really stuck out to me,” said Saka, “is ‘These workouts, I feel I should be doing every workout with y’all. So if y’all squat, I should be squatting, if I’m benching, then y’all should be benching, and vice versa.’”

Stone has earned some further praise from the other side of the ball. Cornerback Josh Fussell, who will likely start his redshirt sophomore season as Northwestern’s CB1, has been impressed with his new quarterback’s mindset more than anything else.

“He’s a true student of the game, outside of obviously his great arm talent,” says Fussell. “If we throw a disguise at him that he doesn’t know, he’ll come up to me the next day after practice to ask, ‘What was that? What was the other coverage y’all were in?’”

It’s not guaranteed any of Stone’s previous successes will translate to a winning season for Northwestern. He hasn’t played a full season in a year, and it remains to be seen whether his rocket-ship arm can compensate for an inexperienced group of wide receivers. The conference schedule is a monster, featuring four teams ranked in the AP Top 25, including two that qualified for the 2024 college football playoff.

Stone carries that 2024 season at SMU with him in Evanston. It sucked, and he still feels it. He told reporters last week that his biggest takeaway through the ordeal was to lean on the people he loved in his life, his family, his close friends. His brother says that faith played a big role as well.

A year later, Stone is Northwestern’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener against Tulane. The ‘Cats are underdogs on the road. Preston Stone will need to do Preston Stone things if Northwestern is to leave New Orleans 1-0.

He will again be the man in the arena. Right where he belongs.

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