Karsen Konkel poised for breakout season at tight end
- Tom Weber
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
CARBONDALE, Ill. — After spending his first two seasons at Southern Illinois as an understudy to Ryan Schwendeman and Aidan Quinn, junior tight end Karsen Konkel could be on the verge of a breakout season for the Salukis.
Although he hasn’t caught a pass yet in his college career, Konkel is running with the first team so far during training camp, and the native of nearby Pinckneyville is making plays.
“I think the biggest thing for him has been his confidence is growing,” said SIU tight ends coach Nate Griffin. “He has a good spring under his belt, when he got a lot of reps, and he’s realizing that he can do this.”
Konkel is an impressive athlete. He could dunk a basketball when he was a 6-foot freshman in high school. Now he stands 6-foot-6 and has added 15 pounds during the offseason to weigh-in at a chiseled 250.
“He’s probably one of our most physical guys from a run-blocking aspect, and he's super explosive,” Griffin said. “I mean, he's a combination of everything you want to see.”
Konkel is a late-arrival to the game of football. Growing up, he was a competitive swimmer.
“I had swim lessons when I was young and joined the summer swim team,” Konkel explained. “I really enjoyed that, and then went into winter swim, which was a travel sport. The 50-free(style) was my main event.”
High school was the first time Konkel played a team sport. He played basketball as a freshman, and tried football as a sophomore and fell in love with the game.
“I was a string bean, but I played tight end in my first year,” Konkel said. “Actually, I didn't get too much playing time that year, because I broke my leg after the first game.”
Konkel came back for his junior year to a new coach in Ryan Lott and a new offense, the Wing T. During the off-season, he hit the camp circuit and wowed college scouts with his athleticism.
“I was explosive in the camps and able to get separation in the one-on-ones,” he said.
Suddenly, scholarship offers came pouring in, including from the University of Illinois.
“It was kind of unbelievable,” Konkel said. “The offers just snowballed and it was like living in a fever dream. I just tried to keep my head down and stay working on my game.”
Pinckneyville went 1-8 his senior year and Konkel ended up playing both sides of the ball, including a little bit of quarterback.
“It was a rough year, just physically and mentally,” he explained. “After my senior year, I sat down and talked with Coach (Nick) Hill and Coach (Blake) Rolan. They came to my house, and we really just talked about what I wanted out of college, and where I wanted to be after college. That conversation was a big part of why I chose Southern.”
Konkel arrived at SIU in 2024 with minimal tight end experience and quickly realized how far behind he was.
“It was a huge learning curve,” he said. “The tight end has to know everything — all the motions, formations, run game, and the pass concepts. AJ and Schwendy, and then Miles (Marshall) and (Colton) Hoag in the room really helped. They were really good examples for us younger guys trying to learn the playbook.”
Playing behind Schwendeman, Quinn and Marshall, Konkel appeared in just a couple games in 2025, but now he’s primed to take on a much bigger role
“I have a better perspective on the game,” he said. “I definitely think the game has slowed down coming into my third year.”
More on the Tight Ends
Although he didn’t participate in spring ball, Miles Marshall (6-5, 260, 5th) is a huge security blanket for the Saluki offense. The fifth-year tight end has 23 games of playing experience, and while he hasn’t been featured in the passing game, still has seven catches and two touchdowns to his credit.
“It's a blessing to have him back,” Griffin said. “He knows what it takes. He’s been on every road trip. He plays on every special teams unit. He’s done it before and he knows the expectations.”
Two more key pieces in the tight ends room are Aiden Moriarty (6-4, 260, Jr.), who played in every game last year and was part of multiple special teams units, and Patrick Carr (6-5, 259, So.), who redshirted, but has added 15 pounds during the offseason.
“Having been in that role of watching the older guys do it, their confidence has grown as well and they’re progressing,” Griffin said.
The Salukis added three freshmen to the room — Ethan Brinkmann (6-3, 220, Fr.), Levi Shoemaker (6-4, 235, Fr.) and Jack Webb (6-4, 260, Fr) — but there’s enough talent ahead of them that they shouldn’t be pressed into service right away.
“The biggest transition from a high school tight end to college is you’re dealing with bigger, stronger defensive players,” Griffin said. “We throw a lot at them as far as the playbook, as well.”
It’s rare for a tight end to make a major contribution as a freshman, but not impossible, especially since there are no more redshirt years in college football.
“You never say never, but we'll find out when the pads come on,” Griffin said. “The push and emphasis for any young player coming in should be special teams. If you want to get on the bus, you want to make a difference, especially as a tight end, you're big, strong athletic, you should be on the special teams and then go from there.”
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