When Navy coaches contact recruits for the first time, they often have to introduce them to the school and everything it offers. That wasn't the case with Brody Gish. He was thinking about the Naval Academy long before football entered the picture. His father served in the Navy, and the idea of following that path had always been on the table.

“We’ve always been looking at trying to go to the Naval Academy, even if it wasn’t for football,” Gish said. “Now that it worked out being for football, that’s even better. I'm excited to be a Naval officer, knowing that that’s what my dad did and how he experienced the same thing I’ll be going through.”

Gish, a versatile running back from Illinois, received his Navy offer during a junior day visit-- one that turned out to be more personal than he expected.