BATON ROUGE — Caden Durham could’ve enrolled in LSU early, if he chose. But he made a prior commitment.

And he’s never going to back down from his word.

The Duncanville High School track and field team had a chance to set national high school records and win a state championship this past spring. And not even the opportunity to join LSU football, one of the biggest brands and college football teams in the country, and get a leg up on finding a role was going to deter him from being a part of the team’s pursuit of greatness.

“He loves track and field, and our team had a chance to set a national record and win a state championship and they did,” Duncanville football coach Reginald Samples said. “There were some things he had committed to with some track and field buddies he was loyal to. He wanted to stay here and help them win a championship.”

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For the LSU freshman running back, when he commits to something, he goes all-in. And when he’s all-in, few things keep Durham from what he works toward.

LSU football running back Caden Durham used to situation

The assumption was because Durham was a summer enrollee, meaning he was not on campus in Baton Rouge over the spring, that the talented tailback — would see his path to the field in a meaningful role for the Tigers got steeper.

But Durham had been in that situation before.

He and his family transferred and moved to Duncanville, Texas, from Oklahoma City prior to his sophomore year of high school. New town, new football team, new system, new teammates and coaches, everything foreign to him.

Durham’s commitment and focus shortened any adjustment period he navigated, leading to him being a key contributor at Duncanville.

“There has to be an innate character about a kid that — we pushed him pretty hard. Everybody doesn’t adapt well or thrive when pushed like that. But he did,” Samples said. “And he got progressively better. It was a completely new environment for him, new system, everything.

“He’s the kind of kid that doesn’t pay attention to outside influences. He was just focused on football. That in and of itself told me we had a kid that was going to be really good.”

Once Durham was fully comfortable, he went off. He helped lead Duncanville to back-to-back state title his last two seasons and with his track speed, ended up being the eighth best running back in the 2024 recruiting class and Texas’ 19^th best overall prospect.

Caden Durham trusts the process at LSU

Showing up to campus over the summer, Durham stared up at four other running backs ahead of him on the depth chart. He knew it was going to take time, but he had to trust the process as he learned LSU offensive coordinator Joe Sloan’s playbook and all the wrinkles of playing his position at the high-end college football level.

“The signals were hard to learn,” Durham said. “But other than that, it all came easy. And then just trusting the coaches and trusting the process.”

Durham kept working at it. Come season’s arrival, Durham remained buried on the depth chart. John Emery went down with a season-ending injury in the season opener, pushing him closer the field. The 5-9, 205 running back stayed positive and began feeling comfortable.

He knew all he needed was an opportunity. He did see the field against Nicholls State, but managed four yards on five carries.

The following week at South Carolina, the work and his commitment began to pay off.

“A freshman working through that transition of understanding the playbook and the nuances of playing the game,” LSU football coach Brian Kelly said of Durham. “Just feeling more comfortable in everything we do. Through his play when he was given the opportunity in South Carolina, he made it happen.

“He’s earned it through an opportunity that was given to him.”

Durham broke out for 98 yards on 11 carries and scored twice. It was his first SEC game.

“(Running backs coach Frank Wilson) put me in during practice, and I performed. So coach was like, ‘OK if you’re doing this at practice, you got to do when you’re in the game,’” Durham said. “So how I perform at practice is how I perform well in games.

“The South Carolina game (is when the light came on).”

'He's lightning in a bottle'

LSU coaches knew they hit on something. The first couple of games, the Tigers run game lacked pop and the ability to gain extra yards after contact.

What the run game had been missing, Durham displayed against South Carolina, helping pave the team’s way to rally for the win that Saturday afternoon.

Since then, Durham has been featured heavily in the Tigers rushing attack and started the South Alabama and Arkansas games. Through six games, he leads LSU with 382 yards, averaging 6.2 yards per carry, and six touchdowns.

“He’s obviously very special,” LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier said. “He’s like lightning in a bottle. He gets a small crease he can take it and go. I think what’s so special about Caden is his ability to make somebody miss and break a tackle. If you watch a lot of big runs, there’s a guy one-on-one with him and he makes them miss.

“His ability to recognize that and his ability to execute it. He’s been very good for us and I think he’ll continue to do well for us.”

Caden Durham's performance 'not surprising'

To those that know him, how quickly Durham has carved out a significant role for himself as a freshman at LSU isn’t surprising.

He’s always had a professional approach and his coaches have raved about his level of commitment to being his best.

“His consistency and determination, he’s very consistent every he did. He worked hard and played hard,” Samples said. “He was very easy to work with. He’s a coachable kid. He pays attention to what you’re trying to teach him. He’s always attentive in film meetings. The way he approached the game was so business-like.

“It doesn’t surprise me (how Durham’s playing). Just because of his work ethic, the type of kid he is and the commitment he has to the game.”

Durham’s approach was noticeable to Kelly and his offensive staff early on. Once he got his opportunity, he was prepared and it showed.

As it turned out, Durham was what LSU’s run game needed.

“He has that — the guys that I’ve started as freshmen handle the moment beautifully. They’re not too high, they’re not too low,” Kelly said. “If they make a mistake, they put it behind them and they move on to the next play. He had that ability to not let something detract him from the next play. I think that’s what the secret is for young players.”

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: How LSU football freshman Caden Durham has become big part of run game