Young was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on April 14, 1999. He began playing American football as a child, attending St. Columba School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, before attending St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, in 2013. As a freshman there, he played as a quarterback, tight end, and outside linebacker before switching primarily to defensive end later that year. Young and the team won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association C-conference championship in 2014. He was also a member of the school's choir, playing the piano, saxophone, and violin.
