Koi Perich has become a prime example of how the high school football recruiting process doesn’t truly begin until that coveted prospect has given a verbal commitment to one college program.

Perich is a do-everything athlete at Esko High School, a mid-size program about 20 miles south of Duluth. With a four-star rating in the 2024 class, he makes it look easy at the Class 3A high school program, and at a smooth and physical 6 feet 2 and 195 pounds, he has received a level of interest rarely seen in Northeastern Minnesota.

Perich committed to the Gophers in April — and Ohio State inquired about him that same day. As Perich continues to stack up reams of highlights so far this season, Southern California offered him a scholarship on Sunday.

“Schools are going to keep recruiting,” Perich told the Pioneer Press on Monday. “That’s just what recruited is. It’s fun because they come out with new opportunities, so it’s pretty cool.”

George Perich, Koi’s father and Esko’s defensive coordinator, has been integral in Koi’s recruiting process.

“He’s all-in with the Gophers,” George said of Koi’s pledge. “I think it’s flattering with some of these blueblood colleges come knocking on the door and contacting him. I think it’s pretty flattering for him. But he’s been all-in since his commitment with the Gophers.”

Koi said the USC offer doesn’t do much to his overall commitment to the Gophers. But that doesn’t mean part of Koi isn’t California dreamin’.

“I think I might go take a visit there; I haven’t really decided yet,” Koi said. “I’ve never been to California in my life. So I think it might be pretty cool to go out there.”

Koi was drawn to the Gophers, in part, because of the U’s line of success at the safety position. The headliner is Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowl player Antoine Winfield Jr. Tyler Nubin, the U’s current all-Big Ten safety, is projected to be a high pick in the NFL draft in April. And Minnesota also had Jordan Howden drafted in the fifth round last spring by the New Orleans Saints.

“That really intrigued me because that’s my main goal: Go to the NFL,” Koi said.

Koi comes from an athletic family. George played cornerback at Valley City State, an NAIA university in North Dakota. Mother Danielle played basketball and ran track at Valley City State. Koi’s older brother, Mason, is on partial scholarship at Division II powerhouse Minnesota State Mankato, where the redshirt freshman has three touchdown catches for the No. 5-ranked Mavericks this year.

Mason is taller and thinner than Koi and struggled with injuries at Esko. When his high school career was coming to a close, he said he was looking for any place to play college football.

Koi, meanwhile, has been able to pick from a multitude of schools. Iowa State was the first school to reach out to Koi; the family jumped at the chance to visit Ames.

“We went the next day to go visit because it was pretty cool,” George said. “He was getting some attention from a Power Five school. It just kind of took off from there.”

Koi’s offer list, according to 247sports, now has 11 schools, including USC, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Washington.

“There hasn’t been a lot of major recruits in the northern area (of Minnesota) in the last few years,” Koi said. “Being able to be recruited is big. The level that I’ve got, I think, it’s pretty cool.”

The Gophers came in “pretty heavily” during Koi’s junior season last fall. He had attended a Gophers camp, had unofficial visits at the U and received his first Big Ten offer from Minnesota last October.

Gophers head coach P.J. “Fleck was contacting him nearly every day, a text message or calling him,” George said. “Just really showing that they were interested in him. And I think that went a long way with him.”

The Athletic has been producing a “Freaks List” of college players for years. 247sports has introduced a similar format this fall for high school players, and Perich made the group.

On the basketball court, he shows off a vertical jump that is close to 40 inches. In track and field, he was the Class A long jump state champion (21 feet, 5.75 inches) in 2022 and can run a 100-meter dash in under 11 seconds, George said.

“Extremely athletic,” Esko head coach Scott Arntson said.

Koi grew up more a Vikings fan than a Gophers fan, but he made regular trips to Gophers games with his Esko teams.

When college coaches telephone Arntson, he relays that Koi is a good student and of high character. USC called him on Sunday.

Koi’s parents set that standard. George is a physical education and health teacher at Esko, while Danielle is a principal at an elementary school in Superior, Wis.

Koi often posts highlights and stats on social media, but that doesn’t tell the story of who he really is, Arntson said.

“There’s kind of the outside perception of him,” Arntson said. “If you play against him, he might come across as (arrogant) and things like that. He’s extremely competitive.”

But what outsiders don’t see is that Koi attends Esko’s youth games, ran a summer camp with Mason for elementary school players last summer, and will help Arntson when volunteers are needed for tasks.

“You don’t necessarily see (that) on social media, where everything is a little flashy,” Arntson said.

They also don’t see Perich staying after practice to get in another weight-lifting session. He says he started putting in the extra work in seventh grade.

On top of playing safety for Esko, Perich will move into the box as a linebacker as well as running back and receiver on offense, and is kickoff specialist. He even threw a touchdown pass last week. He is a punt and kick returner, but “not too many people kick to him (anymore); that’s just silly,” Arntson said.

But Perich loves to hit. “That’s the No. 1 thing,” he told KARE 11. “There’s not a sport in the world you can go out there and hit someone as hard as you can — without going to jail.”

“He just has a rare ability to explode into people,” Arntson added. “So even when he’s hitting somebody, and he doesn’t even look like he’s hitting him that hard. they just go flying. He brings a lot of inertia at the point of contact.”

Perich and Esko have their sights on a state championship this fall. The Gophers — and other college programs — will be watching and staying in touch though the state tournament and until he signs a scholarship during the early national signing period in December.