Cornerback Eric Sutton said he could fill as many as five different roles when he gets to SMU in 2016 (photo by Sutton family).

It isn’t often that a player is told to play one position in a camp, and then gets recruited at another.

But that’s exactly what happened with Cedar Hill cornerback Eric Sutton … sort of.

“I was at the SMU camp, and I did so good at corner that (SMU cornerbacks) Coach (Jess) Loepp said he didn’t need to see me there anymore,” Sutton said. “So I went over to work with the offense, at receiver, and I scored two touchdowns in the seven-on-seven drills.

“I’m a flex guy — they can put me wherever they need me. I have played free safety, strong safety, corner, nickel corner, on special teams … whatever they need.”

Loepp might not have wanted to see more of Sutton in camp, but he and the SMU coaches clearly liked him at the position. Sutton accepted a scholarship offer and committed to sign in February with the Mustangs.

Sutton, who carries 165 pounds on his 5-10 ½-inch frame, runs well — a sprinter on the Cedar Hill track team, he has clocked a 10.8 in the 100-meter dash and a 4.49 in the football-friendly 40-yard dash, although he said, “I haven’t run it since last year — I’m faster than that now.”

That he stands out at cornerback should come as no surprise; Sutton’s father, Eric, also played cornerback, suiting up for three NFL teams — the Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles — as well as the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League during his seven-year professional career. The similarities go beyond the position they each play. Like his father, Sutton complements his speed with attention to detail and an element of surprise.

“Speed and quickness,” Sutton said when asked about the strength of his game. “But I’m also pretty good at reading the hips of receivers, and I’m not that big yet, but my physicality catches offenses off-guard.”

Sutton, who had a pair of interceptions and "about 40" tackles as a junior, said he chose SMU over offers from four other schools, including two service academies (Army and Air Force). The decision process, he said, began before the recruiting process even began.

“What really caught my eye was when (Cedar Hill) was playing Southlake (Carroll) in the playoff game at SMU,” Sutton said. “I got a chance to see the stadium, and it’s a great facility. Once I saw the stadium, I started to do my research about the whole school, and learned that it has one of the top 10 business schools in the country. That’s so important — the education is so important.

“The other big thing was my family — I want my family to be able to see me play … and I want to help build a family at SMU. We want to get a lot of Dallas(-area) players that I know. That’s the main thing I kept hearing when I came to SMU, and that’s what we’re trying to do. A lot of us talk to each other now, and we’re really trying to put something together.”

Sutton’s familiar feeling went beyond SMU being just about a half an hour’s drive from his home.

“I liked Coach Loepp right away,” Sutton said. “He’s going to be my cornerbacks coach, and he’s just really cool. He reminds me a lot of my coaches at Cedar Hill — we just had that connection right away.

“I don’t know if I can play right away — it’s too early for that, but the coaches said I’ll get a chance. I just have to put in the work. After that, everything will sort itself out.

“We (the players committed to sign in 2016) are really trying to help change the face of SMU. We want to change SMU, by being a great recruiting class, getting to games and by winning games.”