By Harry Minium
His older brother played football at Penn State and so when he was young, Zack Kuntz was introduced to Joe Paterno, Beaver Stadium and watching games with 100,000 other souls.
He grew up in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, about an hour from State College, where the populace bleeds Penn State blue.
Yes, he visited Ohio State, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Alabama, and he spoke admiringly of his conversation with Bama's Nick Saban.
But all along, most people knew Kuntz would sign with Penn State.
The consensus 4-star recruit, touted by some recruiting services as the nation's best high school tight end prospect, made his final 11 unofficial visits to State College, according to the 247Sports recruiting service. His heart was with the team he grew up rooting for.
And that made it all the more difficult when Kuntz made the tough but necessary decision to transfer away from his beloved school. Penn State is at times referred to as "Tight End U" because the Nittany Lions recruit the best and make tight ends a huge part of their offense.
Kuntz, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound redshirt sophomore, might end up in the NFL, but he wasn't getting much playing time at Penn State.
"I love those guys," he said of his former Penn State teammates. "I'm texting them before a game and saying good luck and they're doing the same back to me.
"But you sometimes have to make hard decisions and I had to do what was best for me."
The hard part was entering the transfer portal. The easy part was choosing Old Dominion as the place to finish out his career.
ODU coach Ricky Rahne helped recruit Kuntz both to Penn State and then ODU, and four of the Monarchs' full-time coaches came with him from Penn State, including offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell. ODU's offense is similar to what Rahne employed as offensive coordinator at Penn State, and it clearly focuses on tight ends.
He also had a longstanding relationship with Dwight Galt IV, director of sports performance to came to ODU from Penn State. ODU graduate assistant Michael Shuster was also his teammate at Penn State and at Camp Hill High School, where they won a state championship together.
"There were coaches at other schools that I talked to," Kuntz said. "But honestly, when I was breaking it all down, Old Dominion became a no-brainer for me.
"Being familiar with the offense and with coaches here I had prior relationships with, that was big. I know what kind of coaches they are.
"And listening to coach Rahne talking about the bonds you will have for the rest of your life with players and coaches, I wanted those bonds to be with the people here."
ODU tight ends coach Fontel Mines, the former Virginia star who spent three seasons with the NFL's Chicago Bears, said it wasn't quite as much of slam dunk as coaches had hoped. Several Power 5 schools went after Kuntz and in the end, it came down to ODU and Arizona.
"I think the deciding factor for him was the relationships here," Mines said. "We were honest with him. We laid our plans for him, but we told him he'd have to come in and earn playing time. It wasn't going to be given to him."
It clearly wasn't. Kuntz entered fall practice at the bottom of the depth chart, quite a comedown for a 4-star recruit from Penn State.
Kuntz's reaction when he saw the depth chart speaks volumes, Mines said.
"He didn't blink," Mines said. "He didn't say anything. His body language didn't change.
"He was the same guy every single day. He comes out here every day and works hard. You're going to get out of football what you work for and he's grinded his butt off."
The redshirt sophomore quickly moved up the depth chart and although he's only started twice, he's been ODU's second-most most potent offensive weapon, behind quarterback D.J. Mack Jr.
He caught a career high eight passes in last weekend's 28-21 loss at UTEP and with 24 receptions, ranks fourth nationally among FBS tight ends in catches.
Because of his fame and his ability to make big plays, it's taken just two home games for Kuntz to become a fan favorite. Whenever he catches a pass, fans scream "Kuuuunnntttzzz!" in unison. And the instant connection with the fans is a big deal for a program that did not play football in 2019 and returned few players well-known among Monarch nation.
Kuntz grew up in small town Pennsylvania. Although his last name is German, the largest ethnic group in Pennsylvania, his father is Irish Catholic and as a child, Kuntz was a Notre Dame fan.
"Sometimes, when you're growing up, you gravitate toward the attire your parents dress you in," he said.
But that quickly changed when his brother, Chris, began playing for Penn State 12 years ago.
Kuntz grew up in a family of athletes. His father, Francis, played football at Maryland, his mother, Kathleen, played basketball and ran track in high school. He has four siblings – like I said, it's an Irish Catholic family. His three brothers – Francis, Chris and Brandon – and sister, Anna, were also athletes.
The family lived in a modest home with two bathrooms – yes, five kids used one bathroom – and after his sister was born, the boys all bunked together in one room.
Back yard football and basketball games were of the no-call, no foul variety.
"It was always competitive in our house," he said. "Whatever we did, someone would usually end up crying from either getting hurt or getting their feelings hurt from losing."
The four brothers jealously protected Anne against who she was dating. "We were tough whenever she dated anyone," Kuntz said. "But she's married and we love the guy, so that's all good."
All five siblings are successful in life, and Kuntz said that's because of his parents.
"With seven people in a little house, there was always chaos," he said. "But I had a great home life. I didn't have a whole lot of struggles."
Certainly not on the athletic field, where he helped lead Camp Hill to two state football titles. He also lettered three times each in basketball and track and won a state title in the 110-meter hurdles, which tells you all you need to know about his speed.
He's is as good in the classroom as he is in athletics. He was a National Honor Society member at Camp Hill and graduated from Penn State in three years with a degree in marketing.
Kuntz raised a few eyebrows last month when asked about the opulent facilities at Liberty University after the Monarchs lost to the Flames earlier this season.
His comments showed his blue-collar roots and mature sense of perspective.
"You can go a ton of different places throughout the country," Kuntz said. "You can go to Group of 5 schools, Power 5 schools, and everyone has nice shiny things.
"But 45 pounds is the same here as it is anywhere else.
"They've got some cool stuff here for sure. But that's all it is, it looks cool. All that matters is the guys you've got in the locker room.
"You can have the nicest facilities in the country, but if your coaches don't care about you, how good could it really be?
"It's the people that make a football program. When you know you have coaches who love and care about you and want the absolute best for you, not just in football but in life, you don't want to do well just for yourself. You want to do well for your coaches."
Which brings to mind another guy named Zack, former ODU wide receiver Zach Pascal, whose first name is spelled differently than Kuntz's, but whose path to the NFL could be the same.
Had Pascal signed with a Power 5 school, he has acknowledged he might not have played enough to develop into an NFL player. Pascal is now an integral part of the Indianapolis Colts' offense, in part because he went to a school where he played early and often and in part, like Kuntz, because he worked hard.
That's a message Mines often delivers to recruits.
"Do you want to build a career or run out of a tunnel?" Mines asked. "If you want to go play in a 100,000-seat stadium, that's fine. But if you have an opportunity to play 60 or 70 plays a game and be a focal point of an offense, why not?"
The Monarchs (1-4, 0-1 Conference USA) travel to Marshall Saturday knowing their record could be far better.
"We've been beating ourselves with mistakes," he said, referring to turnovers and other mistakes that cost ODU victories against Buffalo and UTEP.
"This is a really hard-working team and we all really care. We believe in our coaches, we believe in coach Rahne.
"Although we haven't had success in every game, we know they've put us in the best position possible. But there are things we need to execute better as players."
Kuntz's execution has improved with each game. Early on, he had some dropped passes, and struggled a bit blocking. Rahne said his blocking has consistently improved as have his hands.
In a 35-34 loss to Buffalo, Kuntz leaped over two defensive backs to haul in a touchdown pass with 19 seconds left that gave the Monarchs a chance to send the game into overtime.
He followed that performance a week later by hauling in eight passes against UTEP.
Mines said he believes Kuntz will become an NFL prospect.
"He's doing everything he needs to do to put himself in that position," Mines said. "He has the attributes. He's big, he's long and he's athletic. And he's pretty freaking strong, too.
"He has things he needs to improve and he's working hard to improve on them. Having a little experience playing at that level, there's no doubt in my mind that he can play at that level."
ODU has the best group of tight ends in school history. Donta Anthony Jr., a 6-foot-6, 244-pound junior, is an outstanding blocker and the fact that he did not play last weekend might help explain why ODU's running game struggled at UTEP.
Isaiah Spencer is ODU's fourth-leading receiver with nine catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Kuntz is second on the team with 239 all-purpose yards and four of ODU's five TD passes were hauled in by tight ends.
ODU's tight ends have also stood out on special teams, including AC White, who returned a punt blocked by Spencer 11 yards for a touchdown against UTEP.
"Zack and Donta are both Alphas in the room and they both find different ways to lead," Mines said. "Zack is a little bit more vocal. He commands respect from the guys and he's earned it.
"He's a super selfless guy with no ego and just comes to work every day. Guys like Zack, they're the ones you just love to coach."
Minium was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in his 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot and won 27 state and national writing awards. He covers ODU athletics for odusports.com Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Former 4-Star Recruit and Penn State Tight End Zack Kuntz is Blossoming at Old Dominion
