For most freshman football players at Penn the first few months are the hardest. Between the countless practices, nightly study halls and heavy workload, first-year athletes are often overwhelmed.
Not Josh Koontz.
For the freshman tight end from northern Pennsylvania, balancing athletics and academics is nothing new. It's a challenge he embraces; one in which he excels.
Koontz was a true two-sport athlete in high school, not just a football player who happened to play basketball or a basketball player who happened to play football.
Koontz earned first-team All-State honors in both sports following his senior year at Mechanicsburg High School.
"I think it helped me, because you don't really get any time off playing multi-sports," Koontz said. "That's a lot of work, and I think it's helped me adjust more easily into college."
The 6-foot-3, 232-pound soft-handed receiver earned an array of other awards. After posting 81 catches and 1,405 yards in his senior year to go along with averages of 16.8 points and 7.1 rebounds on the hardwood, Koontz was named 2005 Male Athlete of the Year by The Sentinel, Mechanicsburg's local newspaper.
Penn coach Al Bagnoli was quick to praise Koontz.
"He was a terrific high school player," Bagnoli said. "His senior year, he caught 81 passes from the tight end -- that's unheard of.
"He's got terrific skills," Bagnoli added. "He's got the size you're looking for. He's got some explosiveness. He knows how to operate space. He's got a very bright future."
The most memorable play from Koontz's senior year came in the semifinals of the state playoffs. In his team's final drive against Garden Spot, Koontz caught a pass 10 yards shy of the end zone. With five defenders in his path, the odds of Koontz scoring a touchdown seemed slim to none.
But the soft-spoken, larger-than-life 18 year-old stepped up to the challenge. After the game, Mechanicsburg head coach Rich Lichtel said, "He literally carried five people for the touchdown." That play clinched the victory for Mechanicsburg, sending the Wildcats to the Division III title game.
It was just one of 11 touchdowns Koontz scored in his senior year, which ended with him being named second-team All-Pennsylvania.
Indeed, Koontz's trophy rack at home is pretty packed. He was also named Sentinel Player of the Year in basketball after becoming the third male player in Mechanicsburg history to score 1,000 points, finishing second overall in career points (1,194) and rebounds (554).
And the true two-sport athlete is also a true student-athlete.
Koontz graduated 18th in a class of 252 students with a 95.7 grade-point average. He received the annual Travers Award for excellence in academics, athletics, and community service.
It was Penn's strong academic reputation that most appealed to Koontz when he was weighing his college options. He was offered a football scholarship at a few schools, including William and Mary, and he was also offered a walk-on spot at Penn State.
But neither of those choices offered a Penn-caliber education.
"Definitely academics played a big part in my decision," he said. "Basically it came down to, I thought I fit the best here at Penn, with the football program and their offense, and I wanted to get a good education."
But why football over basketball?
In high school, Koontz played center, and at 6-3, he is simply not tall enough to play as a 4 or 5 in college basketball. He plans to play intramural basketball at Penn though, so anyone looking for an All-State center might want to give him a call.
"I like both sports pretty much equally, and I've been pretty good in each sport," Koontz said in his characteristically understated, humble tone. "But I was getting recruited more heavily for football.
"I couldn't pass up the opportunity to come here."
Koontz has high aspirations for his football career wearing red and blue -- and rightfully so. Given his history of achievement, there is no reason to assume he will not maintain that high level of success.
"I'm getting there," he said. "But the speed of the game and the quality of the players is much better. I just need to keep going out there and trying to improve."
Bottom line: Koontz just wants to play. He wants to contribute.
"Of course my personal goal is to get in there as soon as possible, but we have some great tight ends ahead of me," he said. Bagnoli noted that Koontz needs to bulk up before he becomes a major contributor for the Quakers.
"It's hard to project when he will start playing," Bagnoli said. "Some of it is how quickly he learns the blocking assignments, and physically can he hold up."
"He can definitely do the pass-catching part of everything we want him to do," he added. "So it's not a question of learning the offense, it's a question of getting stronger and holding up in the run game."
Fortunately for Penn and unfortunately for Koontz, there are a number of talented tight ends ahead of him on the depth chart -- including juniors Chris Mizell, and Andrew Wietstock and senior Matt Boyer -- along with one sophomore and three other freshman tight ends competing for minutes.
Koontz is not fazed by the competition at his position.
"I'll keep working hard in practice and try to show the coaches that I deserve a chance," he said.
Koontz is confident he will contribute in the near future. And why shouldn't he be?
If he can run 10 yards with five players on his back to score the winning touchdown in a semifinal playoff game, he can certainly lift a few weights and fight his way into Penn's starting rotation.
