“Ron Cohen at George Washington was building something special. Sharrif Floyd was the proof.”
The 2000s is when Philly high school football started showing up on NFL draft boards the way nobody expected. Joe McCourt at Roman Catholic — the Overall Player of the Decade — was the kind of versatile weapon that made Catholic League football dangerous all decade long. Sharrif Floyd at George Washington was the Public League's answer: a defensive lineman so dominant that the Minnesota Vikings took him in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Ibraheim Campbell from Chestnut Hill Academy earned the Inter-Ac Player of the Decade honor.
Ron Cohen at George Washington won Coach of the Decade, and it wasn't close. Three decades as a head coach, 261 wins, 12 Public League titles — in the 2000s he was doing his best work. His program sent four players to the NFL and produced 47 First Team All-City selections across his career, with the peak years falling right in this decade.
The 2000s All-Decade list is First Team only — Ted's picks span offense and defense, Catholic League, Public League, and Inter-Ac. The schools on this roster — Roman, Washington, O'Hara, Prep, West Catholic, Carroll — tell the story of a decade when the talent level in Philly was as high as it's been in the modern era.
This is the most recent decade Ted assembled. These are the players that define recent Philly football memory.
Selections by Ted Silary. Originally published on TedSilary.com. Preserved and republished by PhillySportsPack.