If you watch the SMU football team practice you might wonder why one of the quarterbacks is in a sweatshirt and hat instead of pads and a helmet. That's because it's quarterbacks coach D'Eriq King.

King, who was recently named to the 247Sports 30under30 List, is already helping mold the next generation of college quarterback. He threw for just under 8,400 yards with 76 touchdowns to go with another 2,000-plus yards and another 32 scores rushing during his college career. The last two seasons of which were under current SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee when he was the offensive coordinator at Miami.

"I'm a little hands on," King admitted. "You've got a lot of coaches in this profession that haven't played, so I like going in there having fun with the guys, still doing drills. I'm still pretty young, so just kind of joking around, having fun, keeping things light. It's a game, we play a kids game and I want to have that mentality of 'Hey, we're here for the business and all that, but still have fun. So I jump in there every now and then and kind of show them how it's done."

King played in the XFL for one season before joining Lashlee's staff as an analyst for the 2023 season. When the quarterbacks coach position opened, King took on that role before the bowl game. He's now been through a full offseason with the Mustangs and his impact has been felt.

"We all have a great relationship with D'Eriq. He's been awesome," Preston Stone said. "… It makes practice really fun because it's not just a quarterback coach that's just preaching to you and giving you instructions. He's stepping into the drill and showing you how a former Heisman contender actually does it. Coach King makes practice really fun. I've learned a lot from him. He gives a lot of real game advice. We go into meetings and it's hardly any what we call 'board talk' where this is what it looks like on paper. He's been in those big time, real situations to where he knows what it's like to actually step into the quarterback's perspective."

Stone started the first 12 games last season, but suffered a season-ending injury in the first half of the regular-season finale. Then Kevin Jennings did what he has done in his career, stepped in and stepped up. He got his first two career starts in the American Athletic Conference championship game and the Fenway Bowl after coming up big against Tulsa and Memphis in 2022 and Rice in 2023 following in-game injuries. 

"I think we have a really good quarterback room. So we have three guys, three or four guys that can go in and move the offense," King said. "I think they do a really good job of competing with each other. They support each other, whoever's in that's the guy. So they've been doing a good job of going to practice every day and focusing on what they have to do. It's not, no sort of, 'I'm going to hope this guy,' they've been doing a good job. They support each other. So they've been good with that and I'm very impressed with the whole room in general with how they're handling camp. So it's been good."

The approach hasn't changed for Jennings. Whether it was his true freshman year when he had to make is collegiate debut against Tulsa or making his first career start in a conference championship game, he makes sure he is prepared no matter what.

"I wouldn't say anything is different last year and this year," Jennings said. "Prepare like you're the starter. Prepare like you're going to play all the time. Don't get scared to get thrown in the fire. Go out there and just play and do what you do."

And even though only one of them can take the snap, that hasn't changed the relationship between Stone and Jennings.

"We're playing a game, we're just playing a game. It's nothing personal. All the time, when he's going I'm out there cheering for him. When I'm going I know he's cheering for me. So there's different things like that. And outside of football, as well, we have a great bond, talk outside (of football)."

While Jennings and Stone are the veterans of the room, there has been an at least one somewhat surprising piece, the development of Keldric Luster.

"I'll tell you who really stood out and had a great spring, Keldric Luster can play," Lashlee said. "He got a lot more reps with the 2s today, not the 3s, by design. I just think he has a calm demeanor about him. Look, my first two years here we've had to play three quarterbacks both years. So it's nice to know that we've got three guys, three high school guys from Texas, from the Dallas area that came to SMU and are doing really well. Makes you feel good about Coach King, (assistant quarterbacks) coach (Sam) Hullender and our development."

Luster got into two games last season, but really took advantage of receiving the No. 2 reps this spring.

"Keldric has been awesome. He's right up there with those top two guys," King said. "He's been having a great camp. Spring ball really helped, especially with Preston not practicing, he got a lot of reps. So spring ball to now, Keldric, I think he has complete ownership on offense."

Having two quarterbacks with starting experience and a third really coming on could be an issue a lot of places for a lot of people. Not for this group of Mustangs, though. 

"Iron sharpens iron. I think all three of us can play at a really high level," Stone said. "There's different aspects of each other's game that we can take from each other and learn from each other. I think we have a great chemistry between us and we make each other better every day."

There is another piece to the puzzle when it comes to those three — they all played their high school football in the Dallas area. Stone played at Parish Episcopal, Jennings at Dallas South Oak Cliff and Luster finished his career at McKinney High. 

"It's fun having Dallas kids that are invested in SMU and are invested in this offense," SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods said. "I don't know how many college football programs are out there that their Top 3 guys are are all high school, come through the high school feed system and been part of your program since they arrived on campus. We're proud of our guys and that mechanism and I think we've got guys that we can win with."

The challenge to the room this year is winning in a new conference. No matter the experience, no one has started an ACC game. That's what awaits the Mustangs this season.

"I'm really excited about our quarterbacks. Obviously, we feel like we've got two that can win in the ACC," Woods said. "Keldric is developing every day and coming along and he's going to be a great support for that room. Really excited about watching all those guys develop."

But both Stone and Jennings have been in big games and have had success. That's something Lashlee, Woods and King can lean on this season.

"I think they both done a lot of good things," Lashlee said. "They've both moved the team. They've both scored points, they did that (Saturday). So I think both those guys have proven they are who we thought they were from a year ago. It's two guys that were a big part of why we won a championship."