The landscape of sports has been shifting for years. First, college football saw a wave of changes: money, media, and recruiting pressure. Now, the ripples of those waves are hitting high school and youth football.
Former NFL tight end Greg Olsen, who graduated from high school in 2003, believes the game is losing its heart at the grassroots level. He’s watched the focus drift from development and fun to money and business.
For Olsen, it’s not just concerning, it’s personal. He thinks we’re forgetting why kids picked up the ball in the first place.
High School Football’s Purity Under Threat
Greg Olsen, Taylor Lewan, and Will Compton recently sat for an episode of Bussin’ With the Boys where they opened up about what makes high school football special, and why it’s slowly slipping away. In a conversation packed with nostalgia and concern, the three former NFL players reflected on what the game used to mean before the spotlight of business and exposure reached the grassroots level.
“There’s something cool playing with your buddies at your school Friday night in front of your town and going to try to beat the town next door to you that you grew up playing against those kids,” Olsen said, pointing to the community aspect of it, which remains unmatched at all levels.
“The purity of the game in high school football, there’s just there’s nothing like it, ” Compton said.
Taylor Lewan echoed that, saying, “The fact that high school is the best in our minds is great because everybody, every kid can go and play high school football and feel that Friday Night Lights. And if you’re lucky enough to grow up in a smaller town then you cannot just beat it dude.”
Will Compton added, “When you’re in high school, like I feel like it’s when you’re just the most inspired… Just living the dream in your head a little bit on a Friday night. It is the best.”
Youth Football Recruiting Is Getting Younger
Taylor Lewan and Greg Olsen see a troubling trend creeping deeper into the roots of football, with high school players now getting recruited like college athletes. What once was a community-driven sport is now turning into a business, even at the youth level.
“From a national standpoint though it is kind of shifting a little bit because you brought up IMG and these like bigger schools that are essentially recruiting guys… and that’s where all the four and five-star kids go,” Taylor Lewan said.
This shift is pulling kids away from their local communities and turning high school into another stepping stone in the recruiting machine. As Olsen puts it: “It’s getting younger and younger and younger… And now it’s going to move even younger now to middle school kids are going to relocate.”
The essence of Friday night football, playing for your neighborhood, your school, your town, is being lost.
Schools like IMG Academy are building national powerhouses by pulling in top-tier talent from all over the country. And while that may lead to more wins and headlines, it also means fewer kids grow up dreaming of beating the rival team next door.
For Olsen and many others, that’s not just a change, it’s a loss of what made high school football truly special.
Also Read: Dr. Mike Israetel Explains How High School Football Players Should Approach Strength & Conditioning