Much to his dismay, Evan Boehm didn’t step between the white lines of the gridiron until the seventh grade.

His father, Royce Boehm, the varsity head coach at Lee’s Summit West, wouldn’t permit his son to do so any sooner.

“You see a lot of kids walking the hallways and you ask them why they’re not playing, and it’s because they’re burnt out because they started so young,” Royce Boehm said.

Instead, Royce Boehm, who knew “many years ago” that Evan was going to be “something special,” ensured his son’s route to football was a path less traveled.

Due to his size, fourth-grade Evan would have been forced to play football against the seventh and eighth-graders. Instead, he played soccer. Royce had to bring Evan’s birth certificate to Evan’s games since nobody believed he was of proper age for the league.

It was there, on the pitch, that Evan first developed footwork skills and speed.

In high school, Evan was a four-year starter on varsity, starring under his dad’s tutelage. He won a state title his junior season. In addition to football stardom, Boehm succeeded in his other athletic endeavors, winning state titles in wrestling and in the discus throw.

The attributes Boehm honed in those Olympic sports — agility, balance, strength management and technique — have contributed to Boehm the football player. And that’s something his dad had intended years ago when setting his son on the path to football prominence, a path that nearly led Evan far away from MU.

Upon signing his letter of intent to play for coach Gary Pinkel at Missouri, Royce told Evan he could only renege on his commitment if one of three things occurred: Pinkel leaves, the offensive line coach leaves or the school changes conferences.

Sure enough, five months after Boehm committed to Missouri, the Tigers divorced the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference.

“When Mizzou went to the SEC I said, ‘Ohhhh, s***’ because I knew Auburn was his number one SEC school and Missouri was his number one Big 12 school,” Royce Boehm said.

After Evan’s senior season ended in the state semi-finals, he told his dad he wanted to check out Auburn. Father told son he had to call Pinkel with the news because it wouldn’t be fair to either school if he visited while committed to Missouri.

“Not only did he get to experience it, he got to experience the Iron Bowl,” Royce Boehm said. “Alabama-Auburn, that’s a freaking classic game and that didn’t even convince him. So that tells you how much love and loyalty he has for the Missouri Tigers.”

Now, a little more than halfway through his first collegiate season, Boehm’s coaches and teammates are just as glad he’s here as he is.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 310-pound left guard is the first true freshman offensive lineman to start during Pinkel’s tenure at Missouri. Boehm has started all seven games at left guard on the injury-plagued line, making him the only Tiger lineman to start every game at the same position.

Offensive line coach Josh Henson praised Boehm’s coachability, maturity and ability to handle the ups-and-downs that are inevitable for someone so young playing such a pivotal role.

Based on Boehm’s performance, would Henson believe Boehm to be a true freshman if he knew nothing about him?

“Depends on the play,” Henson said with a chuckle, noting that’s a better answer than most people would get for that question.

Senior left tackle Elvis Fisher sees things differently.

“He hasn’t been playing like a true freshman,” Fisher said. “I don’t look at him as a true freshman.”

The whole experience still seems surreal to Evan Boehm.

“Coming in, I wasn’t really expecting to do the things that I’ve been doing,” he said. “I wanted to contribute to the team, that was my goal. I didn’t care if that was on scout team or on Saturday and coming in and being able to start against the No. 1 team in the nation (Alabama), against Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, those are all great schools and it’s unbelievable. It’s a feeling that hasn’t really set in yet.”

However, Boehm doesn’t see being young as an excuse for making mistakes.

“Not a lot of kids get an opportunity to do this but, at the same time, you can’t use the excuse of, ‘Hey, I’m a true freshman, that’s why I missed that block,’” Evan Boehm said. “It’s having the maturity, having the ability to say, ‘Yeah, coach, I messed up on that play. I’ll get it right next time.’”

That resolute mentality was instilled by Royce, who is happy to simply be a father after being a coach the past four years.

“There are a lot of coaches out there who have the opportunity to coach their sons, and I’m telling you what, there’s nothing like it in the world to watch your son develop into a man, not only on the football field but off the field,” he said.

Coaching duties have rendered road trips impossible, but Royce and the rest of the family have made it to every Tiger home game.

Coach Boehm, who used to give his son an occasional extra critique, now happily leaves the coaching hat at home.

“That’s his world now,” Boehm said. “Now I get to really truly sit back and be a father.”

And like father, son also appreciates the change in role.

“It was always cool to have the coach that’s your dad, but once you experience the dad side of dad after a football game … I don’t think there’s a better feeling than that,” Boehm said.