Toneo Gulley was having a bad day. It was fall semester of plebe year at the Naval Academy and the accumulated pressure of academic requirements, military duties and football commitments was weighing on the youngster.
"It seemed like everything was going wrong and I was really down," Gulley recalled. "Will walked past my room, saw that I was upset and came in to talk with me. The smile he gave me and the energy he brought changed my whole perspective. There was a reason why he was walking past my door at that time."
Many Naval Academy classmates and football teammates would say later that Will McKamey seemed to have a certain light in his eyes.