David Sills (American football)

David Sills V ( May 5, 1996) is a high school football quarterback who at age 13 in 2010, was recruited by USC Trojans football head coach Lane Kiffin.

Since the age of eleven he has been recruited by major college football programs such as UCLA. He is a pupil of Steve Clarkson, whom some consider to be the foremost quarterback trainer in the country and who has mentored among others Jimmy Clausen, Terrelle Pryor, Matt Barkley, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Leinart and Matt Cassel.

Early life
Since the age of 9 he has trained with Clarkson about 40 days a year. His father, David Sills IV, played one year for the Virginia Military Institute. Sills began playing pee wee football at age six.

In Summer 2009, Sills was among the 7th grade youth quarterbacks at the Debartolo Sports University in Las Vegas, with the likes of 7th grade Randall Cunningham, Jr. and several other notable performers. Lane Kiffin offered Sills a scholarship in 2010. On February 5, 2010, Sills made a verbal commitment to attend University of Southern California even though he is ineligible to sign a letter of intent until 2015. Kiffin heard about Sills via a popular YouTube video that Clarkson recommended and had not actually met him personally at the time of his verbal commitment. Clarkson coordinated the communication of the scholarship offer to keep its execution within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bylaws. The commitment that Sills has made is non-binding, which allows him to decommit and pursue another program. Sills is among the youngest football players to ever receive a scholarship offer from a major football program. Sills' commitment brought about numerous responses from sources such as ESPN calling into question NCAA recruiting policies on youth athletes.

In February 2011, there were rumors that the Auburn Tigers football team had made him a scholarship offer. The rumors turned out to be unfounded. Sills flew from Delaware to California to observe USC spring practice in March 2011.

At age thirteen, Sills, a seventh-grader from, is nearly 6 ft tall. Scouts mention his youth athletic prowess in the same breath with Tiger Woods and LeBron James. As a Freshman, Sills was the starting quarterback for Red Lion Christian Academy, a private Delaware school for grades K-12. By 2007, Sports Illustrated had already hailed him as one of the greatest prospects ever, and Bloomberg News described him as the "best arm money can buy". Sills uses National Football League video footage to learn quarterbacking skills. At Red Lion in 2010, he accumulated 1,355 passing yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions in eight games. Midway through his high school freshman season in 2011, Rivals.com described him as follows: "Plays beyond his years and has all the tools already to be a great one."

High school
On September 1, 2011, in his debut as a high school freshman, Sills earned ESPN HS East Region Player of the Week for games of August 25–27 for 17 for 21, 221 yards and four touchdowns in a 54–18 defeat of 2010 Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V state champion Ursuline. For his freshman 2011 season, he totalled 2,340 yards and 28 touchdowns in what was his second year as a varsity quarterback. He was named a MaxPreps.com U.S. Air Force Second Team Freshman All-American. Following a freshman season, where father and coach David Sills IV contributed to financing an entirely out-of-state schedule including air travel games to California, Red Lion Christian Academy took actions to downsize its athletic program.

On July 1, 2012, he led his team to the National 7-on-7 Championships. As a sophomore, Sills became the quarterback for Eastern Christian Academy (ECA) of Elkton, Maryland. The move was controversial because the school is a newly formed online educational institution. All boys that are enrolled are on the 46-man football team established by David Sills IV to showcase their talents to college scouts. Eastern Christian Academy was only able to play in 3 games in 2012 due to the school's failure to gain accreditation from the state.

Personal
His parents' names are Denise and David Sills IV. He has two older sisters, Emma, 17 as of February 2010, and Abby, 14. Sills IV is a commercial developer and contractor. In 2010, he appeared on Good Morning America with his whole family.