“I got away with a lot of things. I hung around the wrong kids, so it was a lot I did wrong that I learned from. That helped me think the way I think today. Before I do anything, make any decisions, I think about the consequences first. I had to learn that early as a kid.””

Taylor High senior defensive lineman Treviance Bronson

If Treviance Bronson’s life was a movie, and it very well could be one day, the climax of his story would likely come during the winter of his sophomore year in 2018-2019.

Bronson had quit football after transferring from Katy High to Taylor High. He lived in the Taylor school zone but attended Katy because of the junior high he went to. Because his mother, Victoria, no longer could take him to school every day because of work responsibilities, Bronson had to transfer.

“I felt out of place,” Bronson said. “Throughout the year, I battled with depression and weight gain, because my whole life was football and I just let go. My grades slipped. It was by far the lowest part of my life.”

There is no telling what would have happened had Taylor defensive coordinator J. Jensen not taken interest in an absentee newcomer for team workouts.

“He was supposed to be in athletics, and we couldn’t find this kid,” Jensen said. “I finally found him sitting by the gym. I talked to him about everything I felt he could do if he put his mind to it and worked. I knew he didn’t want to be here, and he wanted to stay with his friends, but I assured him he had friends here and coaches who cared about him.

“I told him, ‘We’re going to fight for you every step of the way, but at the end of the day, you have to do your part and take care of your grades and get focused on your work.’ I told him I know he feels like he didn’t have anybody, but he did.”

Bronson, who grew up as a troubled kid in rough parts of Louisiana before Victoria moved the family to Katy for a better life, believed Jensen. For someone with trust issues, that was significant. It ultimately shaped his future.

Two years later, the 6-foot-4, 295-pound Bronson has committed to play football for NCAA Division I Lamar University, the school’s top defensive recruit for the Class of 2021. Bronson, who also held offers from Incarnate Word and New Mexico State among other schools, produced an outstanding senior campaign as a nose tackle for the Mustangs, averaging 6.6 tackles per game with four tackles for a loss, 3.5 sacks, two fumbles recovered and a team-high 26 quarterback hurries. Six of his quarterback hits resulted in interceptions.

Bronson, who now draws praises from teachers for his work ethic and is rarely seen without a smile, looks back often on that meeting outside of the gym and later in Jensen’s classroom when they established guidelines.

“We made a plan that if I make all A’s and B’s, and if I do all of my work on the field, I will have my school paid for and I will have options,” Bronson said. “So, I took that goal and ran with it. I joined back in the offseason (of sophomore year), weighing in at my heaviest at 340 (pounds). I was told by everyone to switch to offensive line and that I wouldn’t be able to play on the defensive line due to my size. But Coach Jensen made sure I stayed in my position and basically built me from the ground up, teaching me most of what I know.”

Jensen said Bronson has been “locked in” once he realized he was cared for not just as a football player, but as a person.

“Whether he was a good football player or not, we just felt he was a kid that needed to have a chance to be successful,” Jensen said. “He’s a great kid.”

During spring of last year, even with school out of session and access to coaches and workout plans limited to virtual meetings because of a mandatory quarantine due to COVID-19, Bronson remade his body, dropping 50 pounds. He played basketball every day with fellow defensive linemen Marcus and Jordan Daniels. He ran the drooping steep hill at Cinco Ranch High School. Before the quarantine, he had made a habit of attending every track practice to work on his speed.

Bronson already had strong hips, feet and football savviness. But he returned in July for preseason workouts with improved lateral movement, able to make more plays up and down the line, and better at getting off blocks, ripping away an opposing linemen’s backside arm to free himself to make plays instead of getting stuck.

The physically gifted Bronson, who bench-presses more than 400 pounds, squats more than 500 pounds and can grab the rim on a 10-foot basketball goal, allowed the Daniels twins to make plays and rack up sacks (17.5 combined) for the regional semifinalist Mustangs. Coaches lined Bronson up and gave him the option to attack from two gaps.

“He put himself in great position to be successful this year,” Jensen said.

It’s been an incredible come-up for Bronson, who likes to reflect on the considerable strides he’s made.

“I was a trouble kid,” said Bronson, who admires his mother for always making sure he had clothes, was fed, and every bill was paid when times were difficult. “I got away with a lot of things. I hung around the wrong kids, so it was a lot I did wrong that I learned from. That helped me think the way I think today. Before I do anything, make any decisions, I think about the consequences first. I had to learn that early as a kid.”

Bronson is expected to play anywhere on the defensive line, outside or inside, for Lamar. He chose the Cardinals because, well, he trusted them. Coaches were consistent and persistent with their calls and texts to him, letting him know they wanted him. Lamar was one of the first schools to start recruiting him.

“I realized that football could be my ticket to college the day I met with Coach Jensen and he laid it all out for me,” Bronson said. “And from that day on, I knew, and I also knew the work I was going to have to do.”