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As a native of Louisiana, why did you choose UVa?
Koch: I had never really ventured to the East Coast. When I was first looking at colleges, I wanted to get out of Louisiana and go somewhere either on the East Coast or West Coast. I applied there and didn’t get much publicity when I was going through my high school experience. That was my initial goal. My brother and my sister were both out here my sister was at Tennessee and my brother was at Washington & Lee. So that also helped my decision to branch out to the East Coast.
You started your career at Tulane and were there during Hurricane Katrina. How crazy was that situation?
Koch: We evacuated the day before the hurricane on my birthday, actually. We went to Jackson State and stayed there five nights on the gym floor. The hurricane came up through Jackson so we had no electricity there as well. We moved to SMU and they took us under their wing. We ate and practiced on their campus and lived in a Doubletree hotel for 19 days. We ended up cancelling our first three games and then went to Louisiana Tech and set up in a dorm there. The whole football team was on the top three floors, so it was actually kind of fun. We weren’t taking too many stressful classes since they were kind of lenient because of the situation. The whole team was always together, always bonding.
Coming into this season, you knew you had a great chance to play a lot. What were your offseason preparations like?
Koch: During winter workouts and spring ball, I made an effort to really push my limits and get stronger and faster in a lot of areas and get in my best shape. I stayed here over the summer and really worked hard. I made an impression on the coaches in spring ball and once I realized that I was the next slot receiver, I knew I needed to work that much harder. I’m a senior now and I needed to step up as a leader vocally and on the field.
In your opinion, what are the strongest and weakest parts of your game?
Koch: The weakest is I’m not the fastest guy. I’m not slow, but I’m not the fastest guy either. But I think one of my strengths is the technique I use. I’m not as fast as some, but if you use your technique right, it’s a different way to get separation and set guys up where it looks like I’m a lot faster than the guys across from me.
You are not the biggest guy in the world, but you definitely do not have any problems going across the middle.
Koch: I was a running back in high school and actually played fullback in the Wing-T. All we ran were traps straight up the middle, so it isn’t anything new for me to get hit by guys twice my size.
After which players do you like to model your game?
Koch: I really like Wes Welker (of the New England Patriots). I’ve always been a fan, especially last year when he exploded and had a career year with Tom Brady. As far as watching film this year, Danny Amendola from Texas Tech was someone we watched during the bowl preparations last year and is with the Dallas Cowboys now. As a free agent, he is still hanging in there.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Koch: My grandfather played football, track and baseball at Marietta College in Ohio and is in the Hall of Fame there. No one else in my family is built like me they are all bigger. My brother was a guard, my dad is 6-4, my brother is 6-3. I got the short end of the stick there, but as far as them playing offensive line and me playing receiver, I got the better part.
What is your major?
Koch: I’m majoring in economics. I have six hours left after this semester, and then I’m going to take nine in the spring and be done with my major.
What would like to do with it after college?
Koch: I am going to try and work in Washington, D.C. next year. My dad is a lawyer and I would like to get a job somewhere as a lobbyist or with a lawyer. Growing up, my dad was a lawyer and I saw him work hard and I liked what he does. As I grew older, I really dove into what he does and I really enjoyed it. As far as being a lobbyist, he’s always thrown that out to me as something he could work at setting up.
Do you have any hobbies?
Koch: I love cars and car audio. I hook up people’s car audio systems all the time. I have a Tahoe will all the tricks and gadgets. I do everything myself. I tint cars. I’m also a big music guy. I listen to every genre of music, but I’m always listening to music.
As a music buff, what is big on your iPod right now?
Koch: As far as country, Corey Smith. As far as rap, Lil Wayne and Jay Z.