Light-front Hamiltonian dynamics is used to relate low-energy constituent quark models to deep inelastic unpolarized structure functions of the nucleon. The approach incorporates the correct Pauli principle prescription consistently and it allows a transparent investigation of the effects due to the spin-dependent SU(6)-breaking terms in the quark model Hamiltonian. Both Goldstone-boson-exchange interaction and hyperfine-potential models are discussed in a unified scheme and a detailed comparison, between the two(apparently) different potential prescriptions, is presented.