Spend a few minutes at a 757 Colts practice and one thing quickly becomes clear: these kids love football. For 14U running back Jaden Brown, the sport means far more than what happens between the lines.

"Football means everything to me," Brown said. "It just helps me in my mental, all the things I do. Football, it's just a happy place. Very fun sport."

Brown is part of the next generation being developed by a Chesapeake program that has already produced some of Hampton Roads' top high school players, including Indian River's Lord Malik Heru and Maury's Matt Williams. That track record gives current Colts plenty of examples to follow. "It gets me very excited because I know, myself, I've got the ability to be just like them," Brown said. "I really look up to them."

Offensive lineman Aaron Hagans points to another former Colt, Jaylen Speller, now at IMG Academy, as one of his role models. "I look up to him as like a big brother because he played on the line also," Hagans noted.

The program's success under 14U head coach Redd Jenkins can be measured in championships, with seven national titles to its name. But those are not the trophies that mean the most to him. "I can't tell you where the trophies are," Jenkins said. "But when I see the kids, they're doing great in high school, they're doing great in college, that's a trophy to me."

Brown and Hagans could eventually add their names to the program's list of success stories. Both already hold scholarship offers from Virginia Tech despite neither having played a down of high school football. "It means a lot because I've always wanted to go to Virginia Tech since I was younger, so that means a lot to me," Hagans said. Brown echoed that gratitude: "Even though I haven't played a down of high school ball, they still gave me an offer. I'm very thankful for that."

For Hagans, his time with the Colts has also provided a measuring stick for his growth. "When I came to the Colts, there were a whole bunch of guys who were bigger and better than me," he noted. "But over the years, I got better and now I low key can match what they can do and stuff."

Jenkins sees football as only part of the mission, viewing it as a vehicle to give young people an outlet and a path to success. "Football's a vehicle for that, to get some kids off the streets," he observed. "There's not a lot in our area for kids to do so it's been something that we've channeled in some kids and been able to rearrange some things. We can't save them all, but we save as many as we can."

Some of his favorite stories have little to do with wins or recruiting rankings. They involve players who needed someone to believe in them. "People said, 'I don't know what you're going to do with him, Coach Redd,'" Jenkins recalled. "But I take things like that as a challenge and I use that as fuel to help the kid and push forward." Brown has felt that commitment firsthand. "Coach Redd was there for me since I was 7 years old," he said. "He's really been looking out for me, so ever since I turned 14, I've really wanted to play with the Colts."

Jenkins hopes the program stands for something lasting. "I hope kids know that this is like a brotherhood or fraternity," he said. "You're expected to do well with life, not just with football, but with life when you leave our program. That's the expectation." The Colts are raising funds in hopes of sending this year's team to compete for a national championship in Florida in December, but Jenkins hopes the work produces something even more important: young men prepared for whatever comes after the game.