DALLAS – Quarterback Kevin Jennings won the first football championship at a Dallas ISD school since 1958, the first football conference championship at SMU since 1984, and the latest edition of the Battle of the Iron Skillet over three of his last four starts dating to his senior season in high school at South Oak Cliff in 2021. 

His other start in that time was a bowl loss to Boston College. His next start will be in the Ponies’ ACC debut against Florida State. Jennings accounted for a combined 805 yards and six touchdowns to two interceptions over those four starts. Big Game Kev. 

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him nervous,” South Oak Cliff offensive coordinator Jacoby Walker said. “Nothing fazes him. I’m not even sure he knew it was raining in the Tulane win for the AAC championship.” 

Rhett Lashlee was named head coach at SMU in December of 2021. One of the first Texas high school playoff games he attended after returning to the Hilltop was to watch Jennings’ Golden Bears face a talented Lovejoy squad deep in a Class 5A Division I showdown. Lashlee wasn’t there to see Jennings, who was committed to Missouri State and didn’t hold a single FBS offer. He was there to watch the young talent at South Oak Cliff and a corner at Lovejoy. 

But his Mustangs didn’t have a quarterback committed to the previous staff. Stone, a former four-star prospect who Lashlee himself helped commit to SMU while the offensive coordinator under Sonny Dykes, was a young star who was next up for a Ponies offense gaining the reputation as one of the most potent in college football. Lashlee didn’t attend the SOC-Lovejoy game to see a quarterback, but he certainly found one. 

Lashlee himself played the quarterback position on state championship teams during his prep career in Arkansas where he starred for head coach Gus Malzahn. He played quarterback for his hometown Razorbacks before injuries pushed him away from the playing field and into the coaching profession. And like most former quarterbacks turned coach, he can’t help but study every signal-caller he watches on the recruiting trail. 

“By the second quarter, I wasn’t watching any of the other dudes I came to see,” Lashlee said. “I was just watching KJ. He was so smooth. He was accurate and wanted to play quarterback from the pocket, but he could hurt teams with his legs off script or with design. His demeanor stood out the most.” 

Jennings received an SMU offer after Lashlee watched the Lovejoy win and the 6-0, 185-pound dual-threat fit in a 12-mile trek north to SMU campus for an official visit while leading SOC to a historic state championship game that proved inner-city programs could win at the highest level with the proper support from community and administration. Two years later, he’d prove SMU was back from the dead by finishing off an 11-win season with a conference championship. 

Jennings loves clothes, music, football, and winning at football games. He’s always smiling, and he’s usually ribbing a teammate. If Jennings wasn’t needed ACC media days, he’d sneak off to the players’ lounge to play with SMU in the newest EA College Football game. He says he’s the best gamer on the team. Preston Stone was the starter in the video game so Jennings would sub himself in before the first drive. The only problem is that the video game automatically replaced him on two-point conversions.  

He also entered the 2024 season as the backup. Stone, recovered from a season-ending leg injury in 2023, returned in the summer. Jennings, who had taken all the first-team reps in the spring, began splitting snaps with Stone. The race was close and Lashlee gave the experienced Stone the nod in game one against Nevada. Jennings handled the news with his usual steadiness. Both Lashlee and Walker described their pupil as even keeled. Walker saw it firsthand when Jennings was an underrecruited star at SOC. 

“Kevin really worried about the offers and all that. He knew if he kept winning, that would come. And it did,” Walker said. “I think he felt the same way about the quarterback competition. Sure, he wanted to be named the guy, but he knew he’d get his chance. If he moved the ball and won, he’d eventually win the job.” 

Jennings won the job in the loss against BYU in Week 2. The Mustangs lost yards on their first two possessions with Stone in the game. Jennings, who had led drives No. 3 and 4 in the first two games of the season with success, repeated that success against BYU, leading the Mustangs on two 10-play drives. Lashlee wasn’t planning on making a decision or handing the keys to Jennings during the game, but results are results. 

Lashlee told Stone and Jennings on the Monday following the loss to BYU that Jennings would start at quarterback against TCU in Week 4. Jennings went 14 of 19 for 137 yards and two touchdowns through the air, adding 41 yards on the ground in the 66-42 win. It was the most points either team had scored in the previous 102 Battles for the Iron Skillet. Even the ones with Doak Walker and Sammy Baugh. 

“He’s just always the same guy,” Lashlee said. “In practice or in a big game, he knows what is important and he concentrates on that. I think the guys feed off of that. That’s a great quality in a quarterback, never being too high or too low.”