David Sills V

Classroom

David Sills V is on track to graduate from WVU with a degree in business in finance in December. He was named to WVU’s Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll several times and to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll numerous times, and he also has earned dean’s list distinction.

Character

Sills works very hard and puts a lot of time and effort into getting better every day on and off the field. He won’t let anyone outwork him, is very intelligent, and has all the qualities that make him a great leader, which make his teammates respect him. Sills does what is in the best interest of the program. He came to WVU as a much-heralded and highly reputable quarterback and moved to wide receiver to help the program. He left WVU to pursue his dream of being a quarterback and then came back when he realized his best chance to play at the highest level of football was to be a receiver—that is attributable to his solid work ethic, drive and high character.

“I’ve never seen a kid work as hard, from an intelligence point of view, and work ethic point of view,” WVU Football Coach Dana Holgorsen said. “He tries to outwork everybody.”

“He wants to be great. He’s a freakish athlete, but he still has that quarterback mind,” WVU Quarterback Will Grier said. “He’s constantly trying to learn and get better and improve, and it’s made me a better player. He pushes me and challenges me to work on the little things and try to really become great.”

Community

Sills is not only a leader on the football team but is looked at as a leader on campus. The football program has had a partnership with WVU Medicine Children’s since 1984, and the program takes great pride in caring, visiting, befriending, mentoring and being involved with their friends. The players understand how much the state of West Virginia has given to those players, and they try to take it upon themselves to give back. Sills takes time out of his schedule to go visit patients at WVU Medicine Children’s and serves as a mentor to them. The kids enjoy being around him and his teammates, and he spends time with the kids playing games and hanging out with them. He also worked the Football 101 event for women, giving them an introduction to and teaching them points about the game of football.

Competition

Sills came to WVU as a quarterback, he played on scout team as a wide receiver and impressed the coaches with his ability. He made the switch to receiver to help the program and caught the winning touchdown in the Cactus Bowl against Arizona State. In his first full year at WVU at the new position, he tied for the national lead in touchdowns (18) and finished as a finalist for the Bilentnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver and earned a place on 10 All-American teams, including three first team selections. He finished with 60 catches for 980 yards and was one of two receivers to finish in the top 50 in scoring. He was the third player in Big 12 history to record at least 15 touchdowns, finished with seven or more catches in six games, had 100 or more yards in four games, and had multiple touchdowns in seven games. As of nomination time, he already had played in the first two games of the 2018 season, notching nine catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns and ranking top-five nationally in yards per reception and touchdowns.