Mike,
The best ones Ive seen play from my former league have been Ahman Green and Eric Crouch- they were burners even as youth players, they were amazing as 8th graders. Both played on National Championship teams. Dave Rimington was unreal too, but that was before the league went to unlimited- he only got to play until he was in the 5th or 6th grade- he went over the then weight limit and couldnt play after that- we were on the same team.
However there are a bunch of kids from the league Im in now who are playing DI- who werent anything special at the youth level- so I guess it varies. Puberty can change everything.
I think we have to be careful with these kids. I don't really see myself playing a huge part in their development other than trying to help them develop a love and appreciation for the game along with teaching them how to accept coaching/being coachable. We also want to send them on their way knowing they have to effort hard all the time, be selfless, be a great teammate, lower their hips prior to contact and accelerate through contact along with good pad level. Other than that- just perfecting a handful of basics for each position group- the rest is on them and how hard they work and how they develop in HS after puberty. Back in Omaha we introduced a bunch of kids into weights and speed development- havent done that here.
