Alex Smith and Dak Prescott, facing off for the first time Sunday when the Chiefs meet the Cowboys in Dallas, would seem to have little in common. Smith is in his 13th season and Prescott his second.
But they are connected through a coaching influence, perhaps their greatest.
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen guided Prescott to two All-SEC seasons and Prescott finished his career as the most decorated player in the program's history.
In one of his previous coaching stops, Mullen served under Urban Meyer as quarterbacks coach at Utah, where Smith led the Utes to an undefeated season and became the top player selected in the NFL draft.
The identity of Mullen's favorite NFL teams is no surprise.
"I'm a Cowboys fan and a Chiefs fan, so this one is going to be a tough one for me," Mullen said. "I have so much pride watching both of them play knowing you had a little something to do with how they got there."
More than 'a little something,' say the quarterbacks.
"A huge, huge influence," Smith said. "It would be hard to overstate that."
After two seasons at Utah, Meyer and Mullen were off to Florida, where quarterbacks Chris Leak and Tim Tebow helped the Gators to national championship seasons.
Mullen became Mississippi State's coach after the 2008 season and his staff recruited Prescott, a three-star prospect. The Bulldogs rose to No. 1 for five weeks in 2014 and ended the season in the Orange Bowl.
The Cowboys made Prescott a fourth-round pick in 2016 and he went to become the NFC offensive rookie of the year after taking over for injured Tony Romo and leading Dallas to a division title. Much of the credit for his success, Prescott said, goes to Mullen.
"I went to college not knowing anything about X's and O's and left being ready to play as a rookie, and I give Dan Mullen all of the credit for that," Prescott said.
The collection of quarterback success at all of his stops has earned Mullen a nickname:
The Quarterback Whisperer.
"They learned from me but I learned a lot from coaching them," Mullen said.
Namely, that quarterbacks bring different skill-sets and Mullen can work with just about any of them. But he's always wanted players with specific intangibles, starting with mental and physical toughness. Leadership qualities, intelligence with an ability to quickly process information are other essentials.
Mullen said Smith and Prescott scored high in all the categories.
"They are great leaders," Mullen said. "They do whatever they have to do help their teams win. They turn and hand off or they throw for 300 yards. But when they walk into the huddle the team looks at them and knows they are leaders."
Mullen said to blame him for a reputation Smith has carried through much of his career with the Chiefs and 49ers _ game manager.
"Maybe we were too conservative (at Utah)," Mullen said. "But we wanted him to protect the ball and put us in position to win games. We saw that as being a game-winner, not a game manager."
Smith is off to the best start of his career, with 16 touchdown passes and no interceptions. He's also the NFL leader in quarterback rating and yards per attempt.
Mullen isn't surprised. He remembers meeting a tall, skinny, "gawky," quarterback that wouldn't stop coming to the office to watch film and break down the playbook.
Smith filled out and grew stronger. When the Utes' starting quarterback at the time suffered an injury, Smith became the starter in the third game of the 2003 season and led the Utah to a victory over California. (The Bears' quarterback who came off the bench for that game? Aaron Rodgers.)
Smith would go on to a 21-1 record as a college starter running the spread option that Mullen would operate throughout his career.
"Still probably the best passing quarterback I ever coached," Mullen said.
And Mullen said Prescott was his best leader, one whose game was shaped partly by watching his counterpart Sunday during film sessions in Starkville.
"Often, Coach Mullen would give a reference and mention Alex," Prescott said. "Half the plays we ran he brought from Utah. He would show clips of Alex running them, from the shovel pass to the option and stuff in the passing game.
"Honestly, in college I was trying to mimic what Alex was doing at Utah."
The quarterbacks met for the first time at the Pro Bowl last year, but Smith had kept up with Prescott's progress.
"How could you not be impressed with what he has done up to this point?" Smith said. "I've really been impressed and obviously a fan of his, just not this week."
Mullen is a big fan of both, and he's convinced that if neither were running an NFL offense, they'd be running something else.
"Their own business or something," Mullen said. "Alex would have law degree and be president of something. Same with Dak. Whatever situation you put them in, they were going to be successful and win."
