Friendswood High School all-purpose star Jaxson Appel is taking it easy these days in terms of his training and conditioning program. Of course, "easy" to Appel would qualify as a brutal boot camp to most people.

As he concentrates on finishing up his outstanding academic career at Friendswood, Appel is limiting his workouts to only about two hours a day. In the summers, as he’s preparing for the start of a football season, he usually goes about fours hours per day.

And this is not a new routine for the two-time District 23-4A Most Valuable Player. He has been a fitness fanatic since he was 11.

"It became a family thing," Appel told the Houston Chronicle of his love for working out. "My mom and I would go out and she’d ride the bike while I jogged along, and my dad helped me out lifting."

The years of rigorous workouts have obviously paid huge dividends for Appel.

Defensively, he had 117 tackles and five interceptions last year, returning two for touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,864 yards and 21 touchdowns on 225 carries to earn first-team all-state honors in Class 4A.

In addition to being the district’s MVP the last two years, he was the leading receiver in 23-4A as a sophomore.

And while he loves to jog, what Texas A&M fans may love most about him is how he does not run from any challenges.

Appel joins an impressive class of defensive backs this year at A&M, and the Aggies already have a stockpile of talented young players in the secondary. That’s fine with Appel, who is projected as a free safety for the Aggies.

"I think that in order to be the best you have to beat the best eventually," Appel said. "Why run from a challenge? It doesn't bother me at all – those (new A&M signees) are my friends, and hopefully there won’t be any bad blood or anything. We’ll just go out there, compete, and the best guy will play on Saturday."

Appel certainly appears to be among the best of the best in this A&M signing class. He is viewed as one of the top 20 players in the state by some recruiting services and was listed as the 32nd best safety on the nation by Rivals100.

He was also one of the first players to commit to A&M, pledging to become an Aggie at A&M’s football camp last summer. The 6-foot, 190-pound Appel was clocked at a 4.4 in the 40 by A&M coaches, who immediately extended him a scholarship offer.

And while Appel doesn’t have any family ties to A&M – his mother, Shana, was a Big Eight diving champ at Oklahoma State – he viewed the scholarship offer from the Aggies as a dream come true.

"I was just drawn to (A&M) and always watched them on TV, and it’s close to home," Appel told The Chronicle. "It’s an excellent football program that’s academically strong, so everything put together, I thought, ‘why not?’"

His high school coach, Friendswood’s Steve Van Meter, believes that Appel will be able to make a similarly impressive impact at A&M as he did in high school.

"I’ve been watching Jaxson for a long time, and the one thing I’ll tell you is that every time he’s been on a football field, he’s been the best player," Van Meter said. "He’ll hold his own (at A&M)."

He appears to have all the physical skills and personality traits to do even more than that. And while it is never wise to make predictions about prospects even before they set foot on campus, it’s fairly safe to say that Appel won’t disappoint anyone because of his work ethic.

–Rusty Burson