Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Xavier Restrepo coaches youth football team in Pembroke Pines

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Xavier Restepo is a dream player for any coach. He’s an A student in the classroom and record setting player on the field.

He’s now taking those qualities to coaching his own team. Restrepo spends part of his offseason coaching the South Florida Express 7vs7 under 12 team in Pembroke Pines.

The UM senior leads practices twice a week and games on weekends with his mom and dad helping coach, and plan the travel and logistics.

Restrepo said, “I just love football. Giving back to the youth is definitely one of my priorities in life.” He adds, “they do some things that college players can’t even do, so when I see that I’m like wow. I’m blessed to be coaching them.”

His mom, Ashley Padgett, says watching her son coach is an extension of a passion he’s shown since he was a kid playing the same travel football.

Padgett explained, “We had the opportunity to start a 7 on 7 team two years ago and he ran with it. It’s kind of a family thing. He really wants to be a coach.”

Restrepo finds the time for hours a week to lead his team, but the process isn’t cheap. Fundraising is a big part of it, especially for some kids who don’t have the means to pay for the travel and experiences. The Canes wide receiver says the help he gets from the community is vital. He said, “The support that we get and the support behind me and our boys is really unmatched.”

If you’d like to help in the fundraising, Restrepo’s mom has set up a gofundme page that helps raise money for travel expenses for the team.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.gofundme.com/f/south-florida-express-11u?member=31507133&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na*share-sheet&utm_content=ai_variant_ios_no_ai&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer__;Kw!!FfvXB3Q!nmsn6JreHfn-CEmTEr_2ATCxlGFEUCrIoJHY5NiRPsQoW0Gl96FtXwF8EjGhhPzfZdIx9cfqDFs$

They have a major tournament coming up in March.