A position change changed the course of Rodney Clemons' career.Now a path once destined to end in hi...

1. Katy Taylor safety's position change leads him to SMU
A position change changed the course of Rodney Clemons' career.
Now a path once destined to end in high school leads to SMU, where the Katy Taylor senior pledged
to play football last weekend.
"I'm excited for him," Katy Taylor coach Trey Herrmann said. "That was one of the schools that he
had a high interest in."
Clemons was a quarterback growing up but switched to running back in junior high.
After transferring from Cinco Ranch to Taylor, and sitting out his sophomore season, Clemons
moved to receiver, where he spent his junior year as, basically, a wide blocker on a struggling team.
Then Herrmann replaced Flint Risien in January of last year, and Clemons' fortunes began to
change.
Herrmann, hoping to bolster his new team's depth, saw Clemons playing basketball and liked his
athleticism and reaction time. He thought Clemons had the physical tools to play a secondary
position.
Safety was such a good fit that it quickly became Clemons' primary role.
'Bought in right away'
"He bought in right away and worked real hard in the offseason, once he got done with basketball,
and was a sponge as far as learning the position and picking up what to do and practicing things
that were new to him, such as playing man-to-man coverage and tackling," Herrmann said.

2. "He did a great job with it."
Clemons said he was skeptical at first but quickly settled in at his new position, partly because of his
experience as a receiver.
He ended up playing a key role in the Mustangs' dramatic turnaround.
The 6-0, 190-pound senior supplied six interceptions, several of which helped Taylor seal victories.
He also had four pass breakups, 108 tackles and one sack, pacing the team's defensive emergence.
"He played a very big role," Herrmann said. "He was an emotional leader for us on defense and he
made some big plays when we had to have them."
College recruiters took notice, too.
Clemons had no offers and barely a look heading into his senior season. The first interest he drew
was from Incarnate Word, which sent a coach to Taylor's game against Cinco Ranch. His first offer,
from New Mexico, followed soon afterward.
"It hit me by surprise," Clemons said. "I was shell-shocked because nothing like that ever happened
before and I didn't know how to respond to it, but I was happy."
'A huge upside''

3. When Archie McDaniel, who recruited him to New Mexico, left for SMU, he approached Clemons
about joining him, and Clemons agreed, giving the Mustangs his verbal commitment last Sunday.
"He's got a huge upside to him," Herrmann said. "SMU is fortunate to have the opportunity to work
with him, and I think he's going to do great things."
Herrmann says Clemons is a natural at safety and his hard work made him successful and impressed
the coaches who've continued to show interest this month.
Clemons says it was the changes Herrmann made that changed him.
"Coach Herrmann being in the paper for turning our program from 2-8 to 8-4 helped a lot, because if
we would have went 2-8 again, and I had the same season, I don't think I would have had much
recognition," Clemons said.
Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer.
http://www.chron.com/sports/college-football/article/Katy-Taylor-safety-s-position-change-leads-him-t
o-6054400.php