Ted Koppel’s no novice to giving commencement addresses.

In fact, he’s given 25 or so in the past.

But when the veteran journalist takes the stage at the McGuirk Alumni Stadium next Friday to speak to the roughly 5,000 University of Massachusetts graduating seniors, he won’t deliver some recycled message – it’ll be something new.

“I always write a different commencement address. I think that’s the least that I owe to the people who are graduating,” said Koppel, 72, in a phone interview last night. “There are elements of speeches that I’ve given before that will be in this one, too, but this is a speech I wrote just for the folks in Amherst.”

Koppel will be one of the last speakers during the commencement weekend to address the students, who’ll each then head off onto different journeys. Individual recognition ceremonies from the school’s respective colleges will take place next Saturday.

For those who will enter the workforce right out of school, Koppel sees job prospects and opportunities on the horizon – though, he noted, students may have to look beyond their ideal employment criteria.

“I have no doubt that many, if not most, of the young people graduating from UMass will find jobs. The first one or two jobs they find may not be the ones they had dreamed of,” said Koppel, adding, “but there is work out there for bright young people who have a great education from a terrific university. All of the people graduating from UMass can certainly qualify on that basis.”

He noted that when he graduated with a master’s degree from Stanford University almost five decades ago, he too ran into snags when looking for a job. In fact, he said he received 73 rejection letters from different agencies until he landed employment.

“The idea of not getting the first job that you think you’re going to get – or that you want to get – that’s not a new experience,” he said.  “That was my experience when I graduated from Stanford, and that was 50 years ago. Not everything has changed all that much.”

But eventually – after briefly serving a stint as a teacher – Koppel landed a job as a copy writer for a local radio station. He then worked his way into the television industry and was hired as a war correspondent for ABC News during the Vietnam War.

In 1980, he began his tenure as the anchor of ABC’s late-night news program “Nightline,” for which he’s best known. He left the show in 2005 – and doesn’t consider himself a big fan of it today.

“I miss what Nightline used to be; I don’t miss what Nightline is today,” said Koppel. “[It’s] doing very well financially, it’s doing very well in terms of its ratings, but I think it covers serious news only on occasion. And that’s not the program I left.”

These days, he serves as an analyst for National Public Radio and as a contributor to the newsmagazine “Rock Center with Brian Williams” on NBC.

He also gives speeches at places around the country, on occasion.

While at UMass next week, Koppel will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, according to a University press release.

And he’ll be joined on stage at next week’s commencement ceremony by Isaac Himmelman, the student speaker, who will be graduating with a degree in political science; Ronald Ansin and Edward Shirley, who will be recognized with Distinguished Achievement Awards; Eugene Isenberg, the namesake of the Isenberg School of Management, who will obtain a Legacy of Leadership Award; and several other students who will be recognized with accolades, according to the release.

The ceremony for next Friday is scheduled to last from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

And for Koppel, it is a time to celebrate.

“It’s a moment when people deserve to be proud of what they’ve done,” he said. “I love being part of it.  It’s a great, great ceremony and I enjoy every aspect.”

William Perkins can be reached at [email protected].