Ronnie Clark knew right away when he felt that familiar and painful pop.

As he laid on the field clutching his lower leg, Alabama head coach Nick Saban ran over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I think I tore my Achilles," Clark told him. "It felt just like it did last time."

Working with the punt team, the former four-star recruit from Calera had taken off running. Then, pop.

After tearing his left Achilles tendon as a freshman in 2014, Clark had just torn the right one during the final period of the Crimson Tide's final 2016 spring practice.

Ronnie Clark Sr. cried when he learned of his son's injury from one of the Tide's athletic trainers.

"I just thought to myself," Clark Sr. said, "not again."

A year later, Clark is one of the feel-good stories of the spring for Alabama as he's back healthy and continuing to progress at a new position.

"When that happened last year, as a coach and as someone who's close to him, you think, 'Is this going to be it?'" Wiley McKeller, Clark's high school coach, said. "A lot of people would have bowed out gracefully at that point because those are two devastating injuries, but he really wants a chance to prove himself, and he's excited about the opportunity to get out there and help the team."

***

Clark and his father talked shortly after he suffered the injury last year. Both were emotional, discouraged and unsure of Clark's football future.

"Man, I really don't want to go through this again," Clark told his dad.

Clark had been so excited about the spring game and the upcoming season. Back healthy after the first Achilles tear, Clark was set to enter the spring game as Alabama's No. 3 running back and thought -- at a minimum -- he was on track to becoming a special teams contributor.

Instead, Achilles injury number two.

The focus, though, quickly shifted toward another comeback.

"Dad, I'm not going to let this get me," Clark told his father shortly after surgery. "I'm going to come back even stronger than I did with the first one."

It typically takes seven to nine months to come back from an Achilles tear. Clark was back practicing in four months and played during a November win over Mississippi State, running for 14 yards on four carries.

Now, the 6-foot-2 Clark is healthier, up to about 230 pounds and making plays at his new position, tight end and H-back.

Throughout Clark's life, his father has talked about "filling the piggy bank," telling his son that results will be better the more he puts into something. The piggy bank was brought up frequently as Clark recovered from the injury last year and is mentioned regularly as Clark prepares for his redshirt junior season at Alabama.

"I told him, 'Let's try to bring this thing back from day one. We're not going to let these injuries keep us down,'" Clark Sr. said. "He reports to me two or three times a day and lets me know all the things he's accomplished and explains to me how practice went, and I've just been delighted about some of the things I've been hearing."

***

When McKeller found out about the position change, he immediately thought back to a conversation he had with former Tide offensive coordinator Jim McElwain in 2011 when Clark was an 180-pound do-it-all sophomore at Calera.

"What position do you think he'll play in college?" McElwain asked.

"Man, he can do a lot of different things," McKeller responded.

"He's not really fast enough to be a receiver," McElwain said, "but if he put on some weight, he could probably be a pretty good H-back."

While he's raw technique-wise, Clark has already made standout plays at tight end and H-back this spring.

During one 7-on-7 drill, Clark split out wide and caught a jump ball over one of Alabama's defensive backs.

On another play, Clark showed the running back skills, juking past a defensive player and picking up additional yards after catching a short pass.

After watching Clark execute plays early in the Tide's first spring practice, new tight ends coach Joe Pannunzio told Clark, "You're a fast learner."

"Ronnie has done a great job for us," fellow tight end Hale Hentges said. "It's definitely hard anytime you have to switch positions, but Ronnie has taken it in stride. He's a great guy. He works extremely hard. Extremely athletic, too. I think you're going to see him continue to grow and develop in this tight end position."

The early success this spring has Clark optimistic, hopeful that after three difficult years and two terrible injuries he's finally going to be a contributor for Alabama.

"He believes that he could possibly start at that position," Clark Sr. said. "He said, 'Dad, I feel like this is my time.'"