Let’s be clear from the start. This is a story about speed.

It’s a story about the doors it can open and the places it can bring you. It’s that simple, but ...

... it’s far more complex than that. Speed is one thing — a natural trait many are blessed with. But how do you harness that speed? How do you learn to run when for so long you’ve simply been able to blow past everyone?

Really, this is a story about a small running back from Kansas who learned how to mold his greatest gift, a process that has taken him from schoolboy legend to Big 12 starter. Marvin Diener was Sharp’s coach at Salina Central High.

“His explosive step on Friday night is still an explosive step on Saturday afternoon,” Diener said. “When he can break loose and when he has small seams, he still has one of the greatest bursts that you’ll see on any college field.”

There’s never been a secret as to what makes Sharp a successful player. Not even a second guess really. Ask Diener or Salina Central assistant coach Rick O’Neill, both of whom witnessed Sharp’s cultivation during his youth.

Ask former offensive linemen Ryan Cantrell and Adrian Mayes, two guys who not only blocked for Sharp, but also witnessed his growth while at Kansas.

Ask current teammates Todd Reesing and Kerry Meier, fellow playmakers who arrived on campus the same season Sharp did.

The key is — and always has been ­— very simple.

“He was a step faster than everyone then and he has always remained that way,” Diener said. “His work ethic has always kept him that way. He drove go-carts fast. He drove four-wheelers fast as a little guy. There’s no question that’s been his key element from the very first.”

It’s important to understand where Jake Sharp comes from, and what, exactly, he accomplished during his prep days.

Sharp developed into the name to know in Kansas high school sports his senior season at Salina Central. He set a state record with 63 touchdowns. He rushed for more than 6,000 career yards. And generally, he did so without much difficulty.

Sharp’s speed simply led him past and around most defenders.

“He’d be able to run from sideline to sideline, reverse fields and be able to get out of situations where he was completely surrounded just because he had that extra gear,” O’Neill said.

“I’ve seen film on him,” Cantrell said. “They threw him the ball or got him the ball and he just took off. He outran everybody.”

Quickly Sharp’s name spread throughout Kansas. And with that success came added attention. Rivals.com ranked Sharp as the best prospect in the state.

People from all over took notice of the little running back that could flat out fly.

“There’s a mix of opinion on how he handled that,” O’Neill said. “I think that the gifted athletes have a certain swagger about them. Those that can back it up have a confidence about them that they expel to other people. He certainly had that.

“Not to raise any controversy but I think there are two Jake Sharps: The person that can back up whatever he says he’s going to do, and then there is really a fine young man that always has time to talk to people on the street or for people back home.”

There’s another part of Sharp the average fan doesn’t get to see, a part that says as much about the running back as any clocked time.

Those who know him say Sharp has always lived to a slightly different tune. Heck, teammate Brandon McAnderson once jokingly called Sharp a “weirdo.” It’s all part of his persona and it all carries over to the football field.

“He’d show up on Fridays in his lizard skin cowboy boots and a silk button-down shirt with a belt buckle that some guy made for him with his last name on it,” Cantrell said. “But you gotta be a little crazy to play this game. And he’s just crazy enough to want to line up back there and try to run into a 250-pound linebacker.”

And Sharp’s just crazy enough to think he can do so as a featured back in the Big 12.

Back in Salina, when Sharp was in high school, the diminutive running back could often be found running sprints on the track, lifting weights or stretching. Anything to go the extra mile — sometimes literally.

There were times last season when Cantrell would sit at his locker, ready to leave after practice, only to be stopped by questions from Sharp.

And it wasn’t a one-time occurrence. In the offseason, Sharp lifted with Meier during the redundancy of the offseason, providing the motivation needed for each other to keep going.

If Sharp’s speed allowed him to reach this level, his excessive work ethic has allowed him to progress.

“He’s really the epitome of what KU football is,” Cantrell said. “He’s a blue-collar worker. He works his ass off.”

“He was always working out, always doing the little things to make himself that much better,” O’Neill said. “Obviously he was a gifted athlete but we’ve all seen a lot of those come and go that didn’t really materialize.”

Former teammates and coaches said, in Sharp’s eyes, the lifting and extra time never served as a burden. In fact, they said that Sharp actually enjoyed the workouts – something Diener and O’Neill noticed at an early age.

True, Sharp’s speed allowed him the chance to see the field as a true freshman. But his self-motivated work ethic — and his desire to improve — allowed Sharp to continue excelling.

And it’s a good thing. From early on, Sharp had to learn and understand a somewhat foreign concept: patience.

“It’s no big secret that we base everything off a simple zone play,” Cantrell said, describing when the quarterback hands off to the running back from the shotgun. “That’s our bread and butter really.

“To have a proper zone play work, you need timing for the leverages to show themselves and timing for the linemen to hit their assignment ... he would take his first step and then he’d go right now.”

“I just want to go; I want to go all the time,” Sharp said. “Letting things develop and being patient in the hole is definitely something we’ve had to work on here with me.”

Sometimes Cantrell noticed it, but he’s quick to point out that it wasn’t obvious. Occasionally it would come up in conversation during one-on-one talks. And that’s about the only time it surfaced.

Early last season, with the Kansas running game struggling to consistently move the ball, Sharp shuffled in and out of the lineup with senior Angus Quigley and former teammate Jocques Crawford.

At one point during Kansas’ non-conference schedule, coach Mark Mangino called Sharp a “complimentary back.” Against South Florida, Sharp carried the ball five times for 11 yards.

“Throughout a year, you’re going to be frustrated 150 times and you’re going to figure out a new way to calm yourself down 150 times,” Cantrell said. “Being frustrated is all part of the game. If he wouldn’t have been frustrated with it, you would have known something was wrong.

“You need to get frustrated to see what you’re made of.”

Then, against Iowa State in the Big 12 opener, Sharp kick-started a stale offense with a 67-yard catch and run that ignited the biggest comeback in Kansas football since 1992.

Sharp remained the primary back for the rest of the season. He rushed for 860 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“We like to think we’re 50-50 or maybe throw a little more than we run,” Reesing said. “But anyone who has ever run the spread or knows how it works knows that you can’t throw the ball if you can’t run it. Jake’s a big key to this offense. There’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders but I think he’s up to the task.”

Sharp enters this season as the unquestioned featured back. There’s little doubt about that.

But what raises a question is whether or not Sharp’s 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame can handle the workload? Perhaps, then, it’s best to hear from those who know Sharp well.

“Jake Sharp, he’s a beast,” Mayes said. “I think he can definitely carry the load if he has to.”

“I absolutely think he can be a featured back,” Diener said. “As far as durability, there’s no question that at the end of last season Jake was beat up. But you don’t ever see Jake get a real big shot.”

“His lack of size he makes up with the amount of heart he has,” Meier said. “He’s going to give you everything he’s got and he’s going to work until he can’t work no more. I definitely think that Jake is going to do some big things this year.”

— — Edited by Anna Kathagnarath