Preston Stone, a graduate transfer from SMU, takes over Northwestern QB job with ‘earned confidence'

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

Preston Stone has found that summers in Evanston come with a natural team-bonding activity.
The quarterback transfer from SMU and his new Northwestern teammates often wrap up workouts and head straight to the beach. The trips have served as more than just a method to cool off in a summer not nearly as hot as the Dallas ones Stone knows.
'The biggest thing with that is having great relationships,' Stone said after Northwestern's seventh training camp practice last week. 'Establishing that first, so that opens the door where if I have to get into a guy a little bit or vice versa, they know it's coming from a great place.'
Coach David Braun was pleased with how quickly Stone built relationships with his new teammates when he arrived on campus in January. Within three weeks, the Wildcats voted Stone onto their leadership council, well before it was publicly official that he would be Northwestern's starter this season.
Braun made that announcement at Big Ten media days last month in Las Vegas, disclosing that 2024 starter Jack Lausch left the team to focus on his baseball career. Lausch threw for 1,714 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions in 10 starts for the 4-8 Wildcats last season.
Stone said Lausch was one of his favorite players in the locker room when he arrived. But Stone also settled in Evanston with a starting mindset.
'Kind of since Day 1, I've had the mentality that I'm going to do what it takes to get on the field,' he said. 'That starts in the locker room, weight room and winter workouts. So whether it was a public announcement or not, I've always had the mentality of, 'Put the blinders on and I'm going to do what I need to do to prove myself.''
Stone, a four-star high school recruit with offers from some of the biggest college programs, including Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten, lost the starting job three games into his junior season at SMU.
As a sophomore, he threw for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns with six interceptions in 12 starts for the Mustangs before breaking his leg in late November 2023. He returned in time to be a part of a quarterback rotation for the 2024 season.
But he lost the starting job to Kevin Jennings when coach Rhett Lashlee said the Mustangs simply moved the ball better with Jennings at the helm.
As Jennings led SMU to a College Football Playoff berth, Stone said he had to embrace a 'servant leader' role to help his teammates from the sideline.
'You put in all of the work in the offseason — and even going back to when you're a little kid, you dream of being the guy out there on Saturdays — and then when that opportunity is taken away from you, it can hurt from a personal standpoint,' Stone said. 'But those guys on the field are still the same guys you've been putting in work this whole offseason with.
'So I feel like that experience, it was humbling for sure and also gave me so much more of an appreciation for the opportunity I'm going to have this year.'
Stone called his entry into the transfer portal in December 'a crazy experience.'
He was trying to help SMU prepare for its first-round CFP matchup with Penn State. He was in the middle of finals as he prepared to graduate. And he also was having conversations with a few potential new teams, with a little more than a week to make his decision.
His talks with Braun and Northwestern offensive coordinator Zach Lujan stood out.
'There was just a level of sincerity and belief in myself that I felt like was different (with Braun),' Stone said. 'Getting an opportunity to meet with him to see how good of a leader, how good of a coach he was, that played a huge part in it.
'Getting to sit down with Coach Lujan for a couple hours and seeing how he gives the quarterback the keys to the car. It's a very empowering position in his offense and the way he does things, and I feel like those two things were a huge differentiator.'
Now Stone and the Wildcats hope they can lift each other up after their separate 2024 disappointments.
In the months he has worked with Stone, Braun said the quarterback's high-level processing, deep-ball accuracy and sound decision-making while on the move have stood out. In meetings and player-coach dialogues, Stone's knowledge of the game comes through. And Braun said he has been 'blown away' by Stone's ability to connect with teammates.
'Not only from an offensive perspective, but our entire team believes in that guy and wants to battle for that guy,' Braun said. 'And that's a common thread of the winning quarterbacks that I've been around throughout my career.'
Braun was open about the 'self-evaluation' required after last season's dip to 4-8 following an 8-5 debut season in 2023 in which he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. He has tried to set clearer lines of communication and clearer standards the players must meet.
Stone must play a key role in setting those standards, and he said he tries to build the trust of his coaches and teammates 'coming from a place of earned confidence.'
'There's potential to step on the field and tell yourself you're confident without actually putting the work in,' Stone said. 'So the biggest thing for me was just establishing my work ethic for the sake of myself and earning that confidence for myself, but also to establish that relationship with my teammates. They've seen the kind of work I've put in, so they can feel confident in me stepping on the field as well.'