His freshman year in 2015, Sills was redshirting while splitting time at scout-team quarterback. The Mountaineers were getting ready to play Liberty, which had a bigger wide receiver. None of the West Virginia scout-team receivers had much size. So at 6-foot-4, Sills was asked
Amos Youth Jerseyto man receiver for the week. "He goes to scout team and just starts tearing it up," Holgorsen said. "... [defensive coordinator Tony Gibson] was like, 'Dang, we can't cover David Sills.' That's when I started watching him really play receiver." The Mountaineers needed help in their rotation there. So in Week 6, Holgorsen approached Sills about playing receiver. Not wanting to burn a year of eligibility to play quarterback, Sills confesses he was reluctant. "Then the Sunday after the game, [Holgorsen] told me, 'We really need you to play. The team needs you,'" Sills said. "And I was like, 'OK, I'll play.'" That next game at Baylor, Sills remarkably caught two passes, including a 35-yard touchdown. "I had never seen him run a pattern in my life," said Sills IV, who took the family to Waco for their first West Virginia road game. "It was absolutely shocking -- especially for a kid that at one time was considered a statue quarterback." Sills would catch another touchdown in the Mountaineers' bowl game. But even though he seemed to be a natural at wide receiver, Sills couldn't shake his quarterback ambitions. In the spring of 2016 he rotated between quarterback and receiver but couldn't find peace. "You know, he just couldn't let it go," Holgorsen said. "So he came in and said, 'Coach, I love it here. I love my team. I love my coaches. But I just can't let it go.' And I said, well, 'I'm not giving you that chance. But I encourage you to go play quarterback. If it doesn't work out, call
http://www.officialdallasstars.com/Adidas-Esa-Lindell-Jerseyme, or I'll call you.' And I gave him a big hug." And so, Sills left West Virginia to go play quarterback for El Camino College -- a community college in Torrance, California, just down the road from the university where 13-year-old Sills believed he was destined to starAt El Camino, Sills tried desperately to resuscitate his quarterback dreams. For seven months, he lived on the couch at the apartment of high school buddy Khaliel Rodgers, who was then an offensive lineman for USC. Every day, Sills would drag Rodgers out to the parking lot to practice taking hundreds of snaps. "He was so determined," said Rodgers, now a starting lineman for North Carolina. "I've never seen anybody work harder than him." Sills had a decent season for El Camino. Over 10 games, he threw for more than 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns. But the offers never came. "You think you're going to play in the [Los Angeles Memorial] Coliseum with 100,000 people watching," Sills said, "and you actually go play 20 miles down the road at a junior college with 500 people watching." Holgorsen, however, was still watching, too. And just as Sills was about to consider walking on anywhere that
Amos Youth Jersey might take him, Holgorsen called and asked if he was ready to come back to West Virginia and truly give receiver a shot. Finally, Sills was. "Quarterback was 100 percent out of my system," he said. "I think if I would've stayed [at West Virginia], I don't think I would've gotten it outIn the opener, Sills had nine catches in a loss to Virginia Tech. But on the second-to-last play of the game, he failed to corral a low liner from Grier in the end zone that would've tied the Hokies. Holgorsen estimates that in the following two weeks Sills caught 1,500 low balls before and after practice on his own. "I've never seen a kid work as hard, from an intelligence point of view, and work ethic point of view," Holgorsen said. "He tries to outwork everybody." To Clarkson, that is nothing new. "He went back (to West Virginia) with a clear conscience," Clarkson said. "And he's happy. And that's the story." Well, almost the story. Sills' groundbreaking
Carter Hutton Jersey commitment to USC made it more acceptable for schools to pursue prospects not yet in high school. Because of Sills, it was no longer so taboo. Three years after Kiffin offered Sills, Dylan Moses had not even started eighth grade when LSU and Les Miles offered him. The same summer, UCLA offered quarterback Lindell Stone before he'd taken a snap for Southlake Carroll High School. The following day, Kentucky gave an offer to cornerback Jairus Brents, who was just 13. Tate Martell, another Clarkson quarterback protégé, wasn't in eighth grade, either, when Sarkisian offered him to Washington. But this summer, Illinois took the trend to a new level, offering 10-year-old youth football star Bunchie Young. Now at Florida Atlantic, Kiffin hasn't stopped recruiting junior-high kids, either. This May, he offered Kaden Martin, the 13-year-old son of USC offensive coordinator and former Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin
