Pop Warner Powerhouse: Ep. 5 - 2021 LB, Smael Mondon

Smael Mondon is the nation's top LB in 2021, but he almost never played football. The final episode of pop warner powerhouse walks through Mondon's journey.

If you don't know who Smael Mondon is, you will soon. He's the nation's No. 1 linebacker prospect in the 2021 recruiting class from Paulding County High School in Georgia. 

The five-star prospect is set to make his commitment announcement sometime this month between a plethora of prominent football programs. 

Though had it not been for one fateful occurrence when he was just nine years old, Mondon may have never even played football. 

He was always the fastest kid on the playground and in the neighborhood, an extremely active though quiet child, so his parents attempted to sign him up for the Hiram county soccer program. Fortunately for Smael, the soccer teams were all filled up, so they said "Have you thought about playing football?" 

And, well, the rest is history. 

His speed was noticeable on Day 1 for Coach Lester Benn and the rest of the Hiram Hornets team, but because he was so new to the game of football, that was about it. He couldn't quite catch the ball just yet, but he knew how to run away from people with the ball on offense and he certainly knew how to run down those with the ball on defense. 

In our final episode of Pop Warner Powerhouse, we talk to Mondon about his experience playing for Coach Benn and how he applies those lessons learned to the field today as one of the nation's top prospects. 

In case you missed it: 

Ep. 1 - Coach Lester Benn

Ep. 2 - Myles "MJ" Morris

Ep. 3 - Jayden Thomas

Ep. 4 - Miles Campbell

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