They may be among the most elite athletes in the country now, but once upon a time, they were just kids having fun on the gridiron.

In honor of 2026 National Football Day, members of the Burgundy & Gold went down youth football memory lane to share favorite memories and shout out the coaches who made impact on them.

Jayden Daniels

"Ernie Burries, a head coach at a high school back in San Bernardino, that's my guy. I appreciated the toughness that he had on me and other kids. I still remember that he used to push me, saying he was faster than me. I beat him in a race when I was like 10 years old, and I just always appreciated the challenges he gave me."

Frankie Luvu

"It was the first-ever Pop Warner game played in American Samoa. I was maybe 12 years old. I was playing running back, I was a little shorter, chubbier. I wore No. 43 because I loved Troy Polamalu. We started off, and I broke for like 80 yards to open the season. It was crazy."

Trey Amos

"This was when I was like 11. I remember scoring a game-winning touchdown. I used to play quarterback. We always had this play -- I wish I remembered the call, because the call was so funny. It was me going under center, I would fake a half back toss and wrap around the other way, a keeper. There were 15 seconds left. I was making plays, juking, touchdown."

Luke McCaffrey

"Coach Greg Davis was my first ever head coach with the Parker Hawks and Harry Nugent, who was an assistant with the Hawks and the Highlands Ranch Mustangs. Those are the two guys who come to mind in youth football specifically who really influenced me. My dad also helped out with a lot of the teams, which was fun. Really thankful for those people. When you're that young, you learn so much from example. Just watching and observing. The attitude and energy that they brought everyday was infectious. To have people at such a young age who loved the game but also just loved giving back to the community and giving back to the kids playing was awesome."

Deatrich Wise

"Pop Warner. Bennett's Creek [Virginia] Warriors. Playing with all my little friends that I ran track with. That was a wonderful season. I remember I was the kicker and punter on the team. I wasn't that good, but I remember the last two games my kickoff went all the way down to the 15-yard line, and they were like, 'Woah, that was a big kick!' And then I punted that year, and my punt went 45 yards. So, I had really good punting and kicking stats for the last two, most important games of the year. We won the championship."

Sonny Styles

"I was on the Southeast Crush, and I remember playing this team from Tennessee or something. We were coming out on the field, and they were on the sidelines doing chants and stuff. Then we beat them by like 40. So, that was pretty fun."

Odafe Oweh

"My high school junior year football coach Jim Sailor showed me the game and got me recruited. He taught me to work hard and be humble. You never know who is watching you and hard work always pays off."

Dyami Brown

"My little league team was actually the Redskins. We played in our Super Bowl/championship game, and we were on defense. And I got juked and I got dropped to my knees by this little dude. I thought I was going to blow him up, but he got me. It was funny. We won, though."

Josh Conerly

"We were in west Seattle, Washington, at the Southwest Athletic Complex. This was 2012, mid-to-late November. I had just turned 8 years old, and I was maybe a Sweet Pee at that time. My team was the Beacon Hill Cowboys. I played running back and middle linebacker, but I was more of like a nose tackle build wise. I played against and with a lot of my childhood friends. We won our first championship, 28-7. That was my first one out of the five I won in little league. Those were great times."

Chig Okonkwo

"My high school coach Phillip Ironside at Hillgrove in Powder Springs, Georgia always held me to a standard. He knew how great I could become and pretty much just never let me slack off. He was a very strict coach in certain things, but it was always out of love. I really appreciate him to this day."

Kain Medrano

"My peewee team was called the Pueblo Gators. We had uniforms that were like the Florida Gators. I played wide receiver and a little bit of linebacker and safety. My dad was the defensive coordinator, and my best friend's dad was the offensive coordinator. One thing my dad and our coaches did for us is they always put fundraisers on for us to travel. Coming out of Pueblo, Colorado, there wasn't much competition around, so we'd drive to like Las Vegas to play. A lot of my favorite memories from peewee football are just my parents renting a couple of Tahoes and driving from Colorado to Las Vegas and being there for a week and playing in two tournaments. That was a lot of fun, just being able to get all the guys in a van and spending time together. Young kids, running around with your friends, what's better than that?"

Athan Kaliakmanis

"My dad was an assistant coach on a lot of my teams growing up. What I remember was how he came in and brought a team together. I think I learned early on, just seeing it from my dad and how he was able to bring people together. It was pretty special, and that's what he did with all the teams I was on."