More than 300 young football players participated in a day-long camp organized by Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Malcolm Koonce at his alma mater, Archbishop Stepinac High School, on Saturday, July 20.

Koonce, who played rugby as a freshman before moving over to football, graduated from Stepinac in 2015 before going on to play for the University of Buffalo. The Raiders took him in the third round of the 2021 draft. During the 2023 season, Koonce recorded eight quarterback sacks, including three of Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, in a Raiders’ win over the defending champions on Christmas Day.

“It was always in the back of my mind since I got drafted to come back and do a camp, and hopefully do it for years to come. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Koonce said of the event.

“It was the mindset, being able to be coached up, taking things seriously, just being able to have people around you that you can trust, coaches that you can trust, and understand that there are people who know more than you do,” Koonce said of what he learned during his time as a student and player at the all-boys high school.

Boys and girls ages five through 17 took part in the camp, which put them through their paces with basic exercises, including the 40-yard dash, calisthenics, and non-contact football drills. A DJ and MC kept the atmosphere light on the overcast but hot day.

Stepinac football head coach Mike O’Donnell, who has now been coaching various sports at the White Plains high school since 1980, has seen graduates go on to the NFL, including Koonce, Eric Ogbogu (Jets and Cowboys), Gavin Heslop (Seahawks) TJ Morrison (Raiders), and Trill Williams (Dolphins).

Of his players that have gone on to the pro ranks, O’Donnell said there was no common thread. “They all took different paths. They all came from different backgrounds; they were different athletes. Some of them, you think, ‘That guy has a shot.’ To make it into the NFL or the NBA, the percentages are so low.” But of Koonce, he said, “His father and I had a conversation his senior year, ‘That kid can play.’ He had an opportunity to go to the next level.”

Koonce wasn’t the only Stepinac graduate giving back on Saturday. Ajani “AJ” Cornelius, now an offensive lineman at the University of Oregon, held a back-to-school jamboree in his native Harlem at Wagner Playground, giving away bookbags and school supplies to area students.

Stepinac’s football season opens on August 30 against the McDonogh Eagles of Owings Mills, Maryland. Their first league game is against Iona Preparatory School on September 21. They face reigning state champion and perpetual rival Cardinal Hayes High School on October 26.