There’s only one pace with which Ricky Slade operates: full speed, all the time.

That’s the phrase his Team Ascension trainer Kevin Johnson uses to implore Ricky and his other pupils to fuel their drive to improve each and every day.

But being ahead of the pack is nothing new for the 14-year-old, ninth-grade phenom running back at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Through the first seven games of his freshman season, Ricky has racked up 1,476 yards of total offense and 19 touchdowns, according to MaxPreps.

He’s also picked up offers from in-state ACC stalwarts Virginia and Virginia Tech, plus a tender from his childhood favorite, Ohio State.

Before he ever stepped foot onto the Hylton campus, Ricky was a playground legend in Woodbridge—following in the footsteps of area gridiron stars such as Da’Shawn Hand, Tim Settle and Matthew Burrell.

In fact, all three of those standouts have been actively involved in mentoring Ricky. But it’s his bond with Burrell—one of Hylton’s offensive linemen who have paved the way for Ricky’s hot start—that has allowed him to mature into one of the nation’s most electrifying athletes despite only being midway though his freshman year of high school.

Both Settle and Burrell are top-100 prospects in the 2015 class and just months away from selecting one school from their litany of offers.

However, as they near the end of their recruiting process, Ricky’s is just beginning—which also means their role as mentors to Ricky is also in its infant stages.

“Those two guys have really been great to Ricky—especially Matt,” said Ricky’s father, Ricky Slade Sr. “He just really looks out for Ricky. He talks to him a lot. Matt’s a great kid and a really good influence on Ricky.”

The Mentor

On the field, Burrell is Ricky’s lead blocker that gives him a seam to burst through defenses and leave opponents bewildered in his wake. Off the field, he’s made it his mission to armor his teammate with wisdom and offer him a glimpse of what’s ahead as a burgeoning star on the gridiron. 

Burrell met Ricky last summer and started to work out with him under Johnson’s tutelage.

Almost immediately, the 300-plus pound Burrell bonded with the dynamic spark plug who was almost half his size.

It didn’t take Burrell long to realize his future teammate was a special athlete. Sensing that Ricky would soon have to go through the ups and downs of the recruiting process, Burrell turned into more of a big brother for him.

“I had kind of that parent feeling with him,” Burrell said. “I know that sounds weird, but he’s smaller. I thought with an eighth-grader coming straight up into varsity, it could be detrimental. As we started working out together with KJ and everything, I didn’t second-guess it after that. I knew then he was going to be the next big thing."

Burrell’s mentor was Hand—who was the No. 1 recruit in the 2014 class and now is a freshman defensive end at Alabama.

Given what he’s learned over the last few years, and eager to share the knowledge he learned from Hand, Burrell has gone the extra mile to ensure that Ricky’s transition into an elite prep running back and high-profile recruit goes as smooth as possible.

His role as a mentor was sealed with a promise to Ricky’s mom.

Congratulations bro ! Love blocking for you, your my guy and going to the next level with you woild be a dream!! pic.twitter.com/7shrL8xUxE

— Matthew Burr€ll Jr! (@HeaftyLefty) October 2, 2014

“On the field, if anyone touches Ricky, I lose it,” Burrell emphatically said. “That’s my little brother. I tell anybody this, from college coaches, to high school coaches to fans around here, I claim Ricky as family now. Not just because of where he’s at, but because I told his mom that I wasn’t going to let him get hurt this season while I’m here."

Their relationship has evolved to the point where you rarely see one without the other.

Hylton offensive line coach John Harris jokes that it’s not an uncommon sight to see Burrell and the rest of the Hylton offensive line lead the way for Ricky in the hallways at school.

If you see Ricky sprinting towards paydirt at the end of one of his long runs, chances are you will see Burrell running in front of or alongside him as he crosses the goal line.

“They all look at him like a little brother,” Harris said. “He gets a lot of advice from those guys. He gets a lot of support from those guys. Even when they went on their Ohio State visit together, Tim and Matt kind of took Ricky under their wing and kind of showed them the ropes of how its supposed to be.”

Ricky’s Rise

Ricky Slade Sr. remembers putting his son in a kids soccer league when young Ricky was just four years old. Ricky liked it, but as soon as he started playing flag football later that year, his father recalled his son telling him he would, “never play soccer again.”

Ricky would spend the following seven years dominating youth rec leagues and building a buzz as the next premier athlete to emerge from the Woodbridge area.

“If you caught one of his middle school or recreational league games, you immediately knew he played on a different level than his peers,” said Harris.

During his middle school years, Ricky’s dad started to let him work out with a group of high school students at local camps. It was his performance at these events with elder players that validated that his son was a special talent on the gridiron.

“At that point, we knew,” Ricky Sr. said. “He’s 12, but he’s already on that level and performing well. His eighth-grade year, he was a very dominant player. We thought he could be special all along, but it was kind of confirmed for us when he was 12.”

Still, Ricky Sr. knew that his son would have to continue to hone his skills if he wanted to be a great player on the high school level. After his eighth-grade year, Ricky started working with Johnson—who has trained the likes of current 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks and recent Woodbridge-area standouts such as Hand, Burrell and Settle.

“I had heard a lot about the legend of Ricky, but I’m not easily impressed,” Johnson said. “His dad brought him in, and I was wowed from his first session at his maturity level. That’s the first thing that struck me. He didn’t appear to be a kid by his demeanor. He was composed, and he moved with a purpose. His dad and I sat down and came up with a plan. From day one, Ricky has been very committed to it.”

The presence of his parents and mentor-like figures such as Burrell, Settle, Harris and Johnson have helped Ricky craft a strong work ethic and a maturity level that are critical to his development on and off the field.

Johnson put young Ricky through a rigorous workout schedule specifically designed to develop and enhance his ability to make explosive movements laterally, horizontally and vertically.

“Ricky is doing everything from flipping 565-pound tires to running with multiple SPARQ parachutes,” Johnson said. “Instead of running with one, we upped the ante and we run with three. We run with weighted sand bags anchored to his waist. We work with vertical and lateral resistance bands. A lot of the training I did with Ricky is focused on making him move more explosively.”

The work he has put in over the offseason has translated into his hot start on the prep level.

But what makes him so tough to defend? 

Harris laughed before rattling off the attributes that make Ricky a freshman phenom.

“He’s 5’9”, 170 pounds, but he’s very strong,” Harris said. “He has core strength. He has great balance. His vision is as good as any 4- or 5-star running back that you will see across the nation. He has unbelievable vision. You can put him in the slot and throw him the ball. He’s a kid that, honestly, you can put at cornerback if you ask him to and he can play it at a high level. When you say that about a 14-year-old kid who is playing against 18-year-olds, that’s pretty amazing.”

After watching Burrell and Settle travel to schools across the country, Ricky’s first taste of the recruiting process has come a little quicker than his dad anticipated.

“It was extremely exciting,” Ricky Sr. said. “To actually have it happen, and to hear them say they want to offer him a scholarship to play football at those prestigious schools, it was just awesome. Later on that day, I talked to Coach Johnson at Ohio State. That was like … that’s Ricky’s school. He loves Ohio State. Growing up, that’s who he rooted for. For them to offer him, it was great. I had to pull over in my car and just sit there a minute. It was definitely exciting.”

The Future

For a 14-year-old freshman who is beginning to capture the attention of the recruiting world, Ricky Slade’s focus of always going full speed has paid off.

However, it may be time for him to pump the brakes—at least in a few areas of his life.

Ricky Sr. is vigilant in maintaining that Ricky take his time with the recruiting process and to make sure that he doesn’t rush into a decision. Even though Ricky has displayed a remarkable sense of maturity in pursuing his athletic goals, at his core, he is a still a 14-year-old who enjoys watching the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network in his free time.

While the Cavaliers, Hokies and Buckeyes are the initial schools to officially offer Ricky, they are sure to have company soon.

After all, there are nearly four years in between now and when Ricky can sign a letter of intent.

 “We have no idea which school will eventually come to the forefront,” Ricky Sr. said. “We try to keep him away from it and not try to put too much on him right now. There’s still time for that. We just want him to play football right now. We really appreciate the offers, but we always tell him that he has a lot of work to do. He’s just concentrating on getting better.”

Ricky Sr. mentioned a potential visit to Penn State on Oct. 25 for their white-out game against Ohio State, as well as trips to Virginia, Virginia Tech and “the Carolina schools” as possible destinations for Ricky in the near future.

Ricky Sr. said that his son isn’t one to let his emotions show on a regular basis. However, he admits that tears were shed after he learned of his first offer from Virginia.

Like any child athlete with loving and supportive parents, Ricky has a desire to make his parents proud with his success on and off the field.

While recruiting will now be a part of the discussion with Ricky until he makes a commitment, there’s still plenty of goals that he has on the field from now until that point.

For those who have witnessed his journey to this point, one thing they all agree on is that the best is yet to come from Ricky.

“With Ricky, the sky is the limit,” Johnson said. “I believe this kid has the ability to plant his feet and get lateral better than any running back I’ve ever seen. I’ve had the opportunity to train some awesome athletes. When I tell you that Ricky Slade stands out, not only from the physical aspect, but his mental capacity to grasp the whole process at 14 years old, it’s just a blessing to be a small part of it.”

While his physical gifts are evident, the trait that those in his inner circle point to that enhances their belief in him is his maturity and understanding of the work it takes to be a great athlete. It’s a characteristic that has already resonated with coaches involved in his recruiting process.

“One [college] coach even told me that in the game he had where he scored eight touchdowns, they were just as impressed that he did not celebrate after any of his touchdowns as they were with the fact that he scored eight times in a game,” Harris said. “He just has this attitude about him like he’s been there before and the moment isn’t too big for him. He’s actually a quiet kid. He’s not a me-first kid. He’s a team-first kid. I think that’s what college coaches love most about him.”

Future buckeyes ? #gobucks pic.twitter.com/9L0m86jFLs

— ‼️Ricky Slade ‼️3⃣ (@NextBigThiing_) October 6, 2014

Burrell—who has schools such as Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Penn State and Tennessee among his top choices—envisions that Ricky’s recruitment could get crazier than his own and that of Hand’s.

“Da’Shawn had over 90 offers. I have over 40, and Ricky is going to pass us both,” Burrell said. “We just try to keep him grounded and tell him to make his decision for him.”

Burrell has told Ricky about how recruiting will change his life and make him grow up a little quicker than he already has. While he stopped short of calling the twosome a package deal, it’s likely that the school that ends up with Burrell will have a solid chance to land his good friend. 

According to Burrell, that school would be getting the nation's best running back.

“I honestly feel like he’s better than the running backs now that are ranked high now,” Burrell said. “I’d put Ricky up against anybody.”

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand, and all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.