He didn’t know what football was. Now he starts for Troy.

With all the noise around the transfer portal, NIL money and coaching carousels, it’s easy to forget that there are people inside those uniforms. They all have a story. Troy Athletics told a great one this week.

Tyler Cappi is a walk-on offensive lineman for the Trojans. He was born in Uijeongbu, South Korea. His father served in the Air Force; his mother is Korean. The family moved to Alabama when Tyler was a kid, and he had to learn English before he could learn football. He didn’t know the sport existed until he watched a Raiders game with his dad at age 12.

No recruiting services found him at Priceville High School. No scholarship offers came. Troy gave him a walk-on spot, and he took it.

What followed — years of scout team reps, injuries that nearly made him quit, a coaching staff that kept him going and a first career start at Iowa in 2024 — is the kind of story that deserves more than a roster bio. Troy’s feature does it justice.

“Coach Carbine came up to me and said, ‘You’re about to play your first snap ever in college football,’” Cappi told Troy Athletics. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is insane.’”

A kid from South Korea who couldn’t speak the language, who had never seen a football, starting on the offensive line in a Power 4 stadium. That’s a G6 story. And Troy told it well.

Read the full feature on Troy Athletics.