NASHVILLE -- Growing up on the east side of Gainesville, Florida, Ralph Webb dreamed of being a Gator.

Living only a few miles from the University of Florida, Webb's family took those orange and blue colors very seriously. There were childhood games and the Gator chomp was second nature. A future at Florida seemed perfect.

But life intervened.

The Gainesville High superstar, who took his team to the state championship game behind 2,020 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior, got little love from the Gators and no offer.

Gainesville's son, who broke record after record during his high school career, had to look elsewhere for college attention.

"I never thought I'd end up coming to Vanderbilt," Webb said, his eyes drifting and his head shaking slowly.

Despite a successful high school career that included breaking former GHS and Miami star Clinton Portis' rushing records, Webb got little interest from major football programs. Minnesota, Florida Atlantic, Boston College and Temple headlined his list of scholarships, and former Florida running backs coach Brian White actually helped distribute Webb's high school tape.

Minnesota appeared to be a lock for Webb's services, but when his tape made its way to former Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, Webb garnered real interest from the Commodores very late in the recruiting season.

He took his official visit to Vandy the weekend before national signing day with the intention of calling Minnesota's staff on Sunday to commit. But after his visit went well, Franklin called him moments before Webb's other planned commitment and offered him.

Without hesitation, Webb pledged to the Dores. While he wouldn't be attending his childhood dream school of Florida, Webb relished the opportunity to play in the SEC and get the quality education Vandy -- an academic institute stuck in football country -- offered.

"I always wanted to play [at Florida], but I'm in the right place now," he said. "I'm putting myself in position to be my best on and off the field. I'm at a prestigious university so I don't hold my head down about it. ...It's more motivation to prove everybody wrong and show them why they should have at least recruited me more than what they did.

"I don't have any regrets about the decision I made, but it always carries something with me. I play with an edge, keep a chip on my shoulder."

With that last sentence, the chiseled, 5-foot-10, 205-pound soft-spoken back tugged at the aptly printed "CHIP" on the back right shoulder of his lightweight, gray Vandy shirt. It's a chip that arrived thanks to Franklin's former Vandy mantra, but signifies a bigger aid he's carried since his days in Gainesville.

The middle child of five, Webb's athletic endeavors put extra pressure on him and his chances for a real escape. Webb's journey to Vandy made him the first in his immediate family to graduate from high school. Soon, he'll be the first to have a college degree.

"He embodies what's good about college sports because he's not jaded by all the big lights, the big cameras," Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said of Webb. "He's enjoying the moment and taking advantage of every opportunity that he gets. When you see that in young people, it sort of renews your spirit.

"He's all about the work. He's as blue collar as it gets -- really a throwback dude. Doesn't have to say a lot, but when he does, everybody listens. He can tell a veteran to shut up and they shut up. That's when you know a guy's got something special."

After redshirting under Franklin in 2013, Webb exploded for a Vandy freshman record for rushing yards (907) and rushing attempts (212), becoming Vandy's only true offensive threat.

After enjoying what his coaches called a tremendous spring, Webb lived a double life, participating in a summer study abroad program in Australia. Webb shed his football pads for a snorkel and flippers, gliding through the Great Barrier Reef's beautiful underground rainforest.

He immersed himself into a foreign ecosystem for more than a week, but found time to work. From a bodyweight heavy "prison workout," multiple mile-long jogs up and down sides of mountains to sprints through sand, Webb didn't neglect football. He didn't want to lose that edge he worked so hard to perfect.

"I came back ready to go," Webb said.

Webb knows he's the backbone of an offense searching for an identity, and a leader to a team that was lost in 2015. With a quarterback situation still a mystery, Webb will have to be better than he was to re-energize this team.

"He'll help calm down whoever's behind center because they'll know they have someone behind them that will give them everything he's got," Mason said. "They're never going to have to worry about what they're going to get from him."

That pressure doesn't spook Webb. He wants the responsibility, and he wants to be Vandy's guiding force for improvement this fall.

"Embrace being uncomfortable," he said. "That's when great players make great plays."