You can trace at least some of the success of the Boise State football team’s secondary to a San Diego high school weight room, where Jamar Taylor met Trey Young.

Taylor, a senior cornerback at Boise State who will play his home finale Saturday against Colorado State, was a driven freshman at Helix High.

Young was a Helix alum who played safety at Montana and used the weight room to train for the Canadian Football League.

“Excuse me ... Can I work out with you?” Taylor asked him.

“Yes,” Young replied. “I train at 6 in the morning and then at 3 o’clock.”

“The funny part,” Young says now, “is I didn’t think he would show. And then when he did show up, he made it every day.”

That relationship helped form the intense work ethic that is Taylor’s defining characteristic.

Perhaps more importantly, it fostered a collaborative spirit in Taylor, who soaked up the knowledge of Boise State veterans Kyle Wilson and Brandyn Thompson before they became NFL Draft picks — then became the leader of the Broncos’ secondary.

Last year, cornerback Jerrell Gavins, the other starter, accompanied Taylor during his grueling offseason workouts.

This year, sophomore cornerback Bryan Douglas, the No. 3 corner before he was injured Oct. 27, tagged along.

Taylor takes pride in that role — and expects someone to carry the tradition into next season.

“You see (what mentors did for me),” Taylor said, “and you’re like, ‘I’ve got all this knowledge — don’t let me be selfish with it. Help out other people.’ They’re going to help out other people. There’s no reason to be selfish with information. Getting those guys better, so they can push you, is going to get you better. Sometimes I’m a little hard on guys, but that’s just the way I work. … The young guys, they probably hate me sometimes. They’re going to look back and be like, ‘OK.’ Just like I realize Kyle was hard on me. I look back, and he was a great leader. He wasn’t always friendly, but he got his point across and made me learn.”

Taylor (5-foot-11, 196 pounds), the Broncos’ top 2013 draft prospect, likely will follow Wilson to the NFL in the spring.

“I’ve been thinking about the NFL since I was 5,” he said, “from the first time I picked up a ball and put on one of my cousins’ helmets. … Right now, I have to worry about this time right here and finishing off my career at Boise State and making memories.”

They’re the closing moments of a career that has been more substance than flash. Taylor is a third-year starter on an exceptional defense but hasn’t received an all-conference award — getting lost, it seems, amid the talent. He likely will be the 12th member of the 2010 defense to sign with an NFL team.

Taylor ranks fifth on the team this season with 40 tackles, tied for second with two interceptions, first with eight pass breakups and tied for first with three forced fumbles. He also has two sacks.

He has helped the Broncos rank fifth in the nation in pass defense and first with just two touchdown passes allowed.

“He’s been really good,” coach Chris Petersen said. “That corner position in the boundary (short side of the field) that he plays, it’s not only covering guys. There’s a lot of tackling going on, and blitzing.”

Taylor and the Broncos nearly didn’t connect.

Taylor, the defensive MVP of his league as a senior at Helix, drew early scholarship offers from Colorado State and Boise State.

He visited both and liked the Broncos, but decided to wait for more options. Boise State withdrew its offer when three cornerbacks committed and renewed it when two backed out. Taylor pounced on the second chance.

Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, who recruits the San Diego area, heard a familiar name when he talked to Taylor’s high school coaches.

“They compared him to Trey Young,” said Kwiatkowski, who coached against Young while at Montana State.

Taylor and Young, who is a high school coach in Renton, Wash., remain close. Young will attend Saturday’s game.

“He’s like the big brother I never had,” said Taylor, who has one younger brother.

Taylor found additional mentors when he arrived at Boise State in 2008. He played as a true freshman that season alongside Wilson (NFL first-round pick) and Thompson (seventh-round pick).

“I really got up under Kyle and Brandyn and tried to just learn as much as I could,” he said.

They taught him how to take care of his body. “Wear these trainers out,” Taylor said.

They showed him the importance of video study. Taylor often can be found staring at a screen in whatever meeting room is available — lonely, tedious work that allows him to call out opponents’ tendencies on game day.

And they taught him how to practice. “Some days I practiced hard and some days I didn’t,” he said.

Much of that learning occurred in 2009, when Taylor redshirted because a knee injury limited him early in the season and Gavins emerged as a solid No. 3 corner.

The work showed immediately in 2010 — when Taylor beat out Gavins for a starting spot.

“The guy has an unbelievable work ethic physically and then also mentally, going into those film rooms and watching video and taking that preparation to the next level,” Kwiatkowski said.

Taylor excels in the classroom, too. He graduated in May with a communication degree and 3.5 GPA. He’s taking classes toward a master’s in kinesiology this semester.

He says he once was a lazy kid.

He’s just the opposite now.

“He’s probably one of the hardest-working guys on and off the field I’ve ever met,” senior wide receiver Chris Potter said. “… One of the biggest things I’ve always admired about him is how he takes the young guys and really grabs hold of them and tries to pass off his knowledge.”

That could be Taylor’s legacy at Boise State.

It might be his future, too.

He wants to coach — high school, if he banks some money in the NFL, or college, if he needs the larger paycheck.

“I feel like if I can teach high school kids what I know in college, that will prepare them better for college,” he said. “… Hopefully one day I’ll be a head coach or a D-coordinator.”

Taylor already has impacted some high school players. Young tells his story to the players at his school.

“To see how he’s grown and developed in some of the techniques he’s mastered is incredible,” Young said. “I’m telling guys now on the team I’m with, ‘Watch this guy.’ I’m showing them film of him. This is a guy who came from trying to work hard. It paid off — and look at him now.”

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398,

Twitter: @IDS_BroncoBeat