Sep. 4—PINE ISLAND — To say Cody Schiltz comes from a football family is a bit of an understatement.

The Pine Island senior linebacker is a third-generation football player, after his grandfather, Rollie Gentzler, a former South Dakota safety, and his father, Mitch Schiltz, who was a defensive tackle at Winona State University in the late 90s and early 2000s. Mitch Schiltz is also in his fifth season as the Panthers' head football coach.

Schiltz's older brother, Blake, a redshirt freshman defensive end for North Dakota State University, was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Week on Aug. 31.

To top it all off, one of his cousins is Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker, who played football at the University of Iowa and Parker Center High School in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Hooker was a Mr. Minnesota Football finalist in 2015.

Schiltz, 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds, will continue the family tradition when he heads to Bemidji State University next fall to play Division II football for the Beavers. He announced his verbal commitment to Bemidji with a social media post on Aug. 9.

He had two other offers from Minnesota State University Moorhead and Southwest Minnesota State University.

"(Bemidji) just felt like the right place," Schiltz said. "All the coaches are awesome, especially the head coach (Brent) Bolte. It felt awesome because I went on my official visit there, and it just felt like the place. The culture, the guys there — I felt like I fit in. And they play good football up there. So that's kind of how I decided to head to Bemidji."

Schiltz' recruitment process started later than usual because he suffered an injury at the end of his sophomore year and couldn't participate in any camps that summer. But once coaches saw his junior season tape, the phone started ringing.

Last fall, the Panthers finished 10-1 overall and won the Section 1, Class 3A title for the first time since 2013. En route to the Class 3A state quarterfinals, Schiltz recorded 69 total tackles and 14 tackles for loss. He also contributed 164 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 18 carries and scored two receiving TDs as well.

Growing up around several influential football players, Schiltz has had no shortage of mentors on and off the field.

"Our whole family just grew up always playing in the backyard whenever we can," Schiltz said. "And we're a very competitive family, so just kind of doing whatever we can to compete against each other. It always ended up being tackle football in the backyard with parents watching. ... At the start of high school, just seeing my older brother (Blake) at practice was so cool, and he was always somebody I looked up to a lot."

Schiltz remembers playing football in the backyard with Hooker at family reunions.

"I always looked up to him because when he would come over, it was always like, 'Holy crap, this guy's in the NFL,' and he was just a big role model," Schiltz said. "He's a super nice guy."

Schiltz' parents, Mitch and Angie (a former Winona State volleyball player), saw NDSU's 33-7 win over Jacksonville State in person on Aug. 29 in Fargo, while he watched the game on TV with his grandparents and younger brother, Tyson.

"We were watching the game and just kind of looking, like, 'oh, Blake's in the game,' and then all of a sudden he scored the touchdown, and we were just jumping up and down. We couldn't believe it. It was crazy, so we were super excited."

Schiltz is now a mentor himself to Pine Island's underclassmen, including Tyson, a freshman.

"He's actually the biggest one in the family now, even though he's the youngest," Schiltz said of his younger brother. "He's starting to do reps with us. So it's kind of exciting to get on the field with him a little bit."

Schiltz has certainly made a name for himself among the football standouts in his family and has one final season with the Panthers to keep developing his strength, speed and technique.

Pine Island opened its 2026 season at home against Red Wing on Sept. 4. The Panthers lost key skill players and leaders to graduation last season, but Schiltz is confident he and the other returners can step up and fill those gaps.

"Our big thing is always setting a standard," Schiltz said. "We always talk about FTC as our motto. It's family, toughness and competition. So those are the three big things that we go off of. And so I mean, that's what we do to get back to the place (state).

"We want to be a super tough team, the most physical team on the field, and I think we can do that. We have a bunch of young guys that are ready to come up and compete and finally get a chance to play. So, I think we just have a lot of guys that are ready to go out and kick some tail."

Source: Yahoo Sports