UNT wide receiver Kyle Koch on rise after flashing potential in bowl win

Neal Brown was preparing to take over the North Texas football program a few months ago and couldn’t help but notice the way one of the Mean Green’s young receivers kept making plays in practice.

Kyle Koch certainly wasn’t considered one of the players to watch as UNT prepared to face San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl. He’d barely played all season.

What the Dripping Springs native showed in those workouts — and in the months since — points to Koch taking on a larger role, and soon.

“Kyle might be our most improved player who was on the team from last year until now,” Brown said late in UNT’s fall camp. “He came on, caught two balls in the bowl game and was in the rotation. He probably played the most snaps he’d played in a game all year.

“I was impressed watching him in bowl prep. He’s kept coming on and is definitely going to be a factor.”

There are plenty of opportunities there for players to break out heading into UNT’s season opener at Indiana on Sept. 5. The Mean Green lost their top eight wide receivers to graduation or transfer after the 2025 campaign. Dalton Carnes is UNT’s leading returning wide receiver, and he caught just seven passes last season.

Koch is in position to capitalize, largely because of the way he worked behind the scenes over the last few months. The 6-foot-2, 198-pound junior finished with two receptions for 17 yards in UNT’s win over San Diego State.

Those were his only catches of the year.

“I’ve definitely progressed,” Koch said. “Just being behind the guys last year and my freshman year helped me learn a lot about football. Over the last two years, I’ve also learned a lot about myself.

“I’ve definitely progressed weight room-wise, speed-wise and with running routes.”

That is just what wide receivers coach Kishawn McClain indicated he needs to see from the players looking to fill the void after a host of UNT’s elite wide receivers graduated or transferred after last season.

“We’ve got a great room,” McClain said during spring practice. “We don’t have any guys who are worried about themselves.

“We try and mold these guys and help them be at their best.”

Koch has benefited from being in that environment and shown signs of capitalizing on the potential he displayed during his days at Dripping Springs on his way to earning honorable mention all-state honors. He finished with 80 receptions for 1,314 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior. The challenge for Koch has been to translate the potential he displayed in high school into production on the college level.

“It’s been great,” Koch said. “Every day, we come in and compete. The best guys play.”

Koch is just one of UNT’s options. Brown and his staff have had high expectations for Baron Tipton, another returner who played sparingly last season.

Transfers Corri Milliner, TJ Chukwurah, Josiah Martin, Justin Stevenson and James Tyre are also in the mix.

“We definitely have different strengths and weaknesses,” Koch said. “Tip’s a bigger guy. Corri is very fast. James and Josiah are shifty.

“We switch things around a lot. Sometimes we have the outside receivers move inside. Other times we have the inside guys go outside. We like to see where each receiver fits best.”

The hope is that process ends up with UNT having a highly productive batch of receivers to rival what the Mean Green rolled out last season.

Wyatt Young finished third nationally with 1,264 receiving yards in his final year with the Mean Green before following former UNT coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State. Cameron Dorner added 911 yards and is now in training camp with the New England Patriots.

Miles Coleman and Landon Sides were also key contributors before transferring to Oklahoma State and East Carolina, respectively.

Those departures have left UNT looking to rebuild. Koch has spent the last few weeks trying to prove that he can be a part of the process.

“He’s made some plays,” Brown said. “He’s one of those guys who’s done it inconsistently, but he has shown flashes and will definitely be in the rotation. It’s really up to him. Is he going to be one of our go-to guys or a rotational player?”

Either way, Koch appears poised to be a part of UNT’s plans this fall.