The Twin Cities suburbs have continued to move west and south. Larger houses and larger populations have expanded far beyond Eden Prairie. There are still excellent athletes to be found among the Eagles, although the demographics have changed and the competition from the world of electronics becomes more fierce by the day.

I’m told a 15-year-old can be a superhero on AI without ever having reached an end zone, scored a goal, made a three-pointer or kept a puck out of the net in real life.

There was a time a couple of decades ago when Eden Prairie had a home football game starting at 7 p.m., and two hours earlier there were youth games being played on four fields within view of the main stadium.

Coach Mike Grant was there for that, with 11 largest-school state titles from 1996 through 2017, and he’s still there with committed players and a strong team — just not the often unbeatable monster that were the Eagles for two decades (and change).

“We used to have 120-130 players in the top grades, but we’re still good,” Grant said. “We have about 90. Great young people.”

When the final bell went off at Eden Prairie High School near 3 p.m. Wednesday, hundreds of students of driving age headed for their vehicles in the large parking areas.

The football-playing Eagles headed for classrooms to watch “film,” as Grant and all veteran coaches refer to the videos now available almost instantly to be studied.

Questions are encouraged, although Grant said: “At this time of the season, after eight games, they pick up on what we’re showing them very quickly. Coaching in the first few games is much different than it is in late October. The players know their stuff.”

The Eagles (6-2) hit the big practice field around 4:15 p.m. There was some loosening up and conversation. Then, the defense went to the far end of the field to work on what it could expect from Lakeville North, Friday night’s visitor for the start of the Class 6A playoffs. The offense had the half of the field closest to the school.

Grant has always called the plays: First as a 24-year-old head coach at Forest Lake in 1981, continuing when he came to Eden Prairie in 1992. His time at Forest Lake was interrupted for 1987 and ’88, when he went to St. John’s to be an offensive assistant for his college coach, John Gagliardi. He was able to return to Forest Lake for another three-year run in 1989.

“You know John’s joke that it was not only the monks at St. John’s taking a vow of poverty … it was also the coaches," Grant said. “I found out it wasn’t a joke. We were starting a family. We couldn’t afford to stay at St. John’s with me as an assistant coach.

“I went to Father Hilary [Thimmesh] and he said, ‘We can’t give you a raise, Mike, but John’s 58 … he won’t be doing this much longer. I said, ‘Father, you don’t know John as well as you might think you do.’ "

Gagliardi coached until age 86 and retired with a record 489 victories for a college coach.

Grant went from Forest Lake to the booming southwest suburb of Eden Prairie in 1992. Thirty-four seasons later, a victory over Lakeville North would be No. 400 for Grant, joining Verndale’s Mike Mahlen and Becker’s Dwight Lundeen (both still active) as the only Minnesota high school coaches to reach that number.

Confession: I sent a text to Grant on Monday with a request to attend Wednesday’s practice. He responded: “What’s the story?”

My answer: “Eden Prairie’s gearing up for the playoffs with its wily old coaching staff — underdogs to win it all these days but still feisty."

It was a day later that colleague Chip Scoggins gave me the info that Grant was sitting at 399 wins. And when I texted him about being on the cusp of 400, Grant replied: “How’d you find out? I don’t talk about it much.”

I did spend 90 minutes in that golf cart squeezed in next to Grant on Wednesday and came away astounded. He has seven or eight coaches he deals with — occasionally squabbling in good humor. When the Eagles start running plays and the quarterbacks walk over, Grant looks at his small writing in a few columns on his play sheet and tells them what he wants.

Jackson Bakkum, in his second season as starter, either nods, or asks what variation Grant wants on the play, and then heads for the huddle.

“A year ago, I would be explaining the play to Jackson for 15 seconds,” Grant said. “Now, I give him a play, and he might ask, ‘Do you want to see it with the guard pulling or not?”

Grant laughed slightly and said: “We’ve been running these same plays for years.’ ”

There is a lot of father Bud in son Mike’s observational powers. Offense vs. defense, he can give Bakkum a play, tell a great Gagliardi story as the QB heads to the huddle, and notice every element of what takes place as the play unfolds.

Many coaches talk about making football fun and lovin’ up the players. You see that on full display in an Eden Prairie practice. Grant does have an occasional complaint, such as this:

“That running back, Owen Konrad, he’s a sophomore. He can be one of our great ones, if we can keep the hockey guys away from him in the fall. He’s a terrific hockey player and those people are telling him, ‘Forget football. Spend the time in the fall working on hockey.’

“He’s got terrific parents. So far, we have ’em on our side. They want him to be a well-rounded athlete.”

Just about then, Konrad burst left and headed toward the end zone.

Mike Grant smiled and said: “I agree with the parents.”