The Athletic interviews Luke Kuechly

[Mr. Scot]

Good article, including some insight as to why the pro scouting gig didn't really work out for him.

Joe Person: One on one with Luke Kuechly

Excerpts below:

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You were a Panthers pro scout for not quite a year. What was that experience like?

I think one thing that made it very difficult was all the COVID stuff. There were so many rules. Like road games, once we get to the (hotel), I was thinking, “Oh, I’ll go eat dinner with J.J. (Jansen) and all my guys” — like, still do what I did previously. But with COVID, you can’t really do any of that. So that impacted it a lot. It was very informative. You see how things work, like the process of bringing guys in for tryouts. With COVID, they had to come in so many days early and test, test, test, test, test. So you really had to plan stuff out, so like if a guy got hurt on a Friday, we can’t bring anyone in because they haven’t tested. And then everybody started finding loopholes and ways to get around it. It was really interesting. I made it through pretty much up to the draft. So we did all the draft meetings. Every draftable guy in college football you go through and you stack the board. … It’s cool the time those (college scouts) put in. Or like the psychological testing, when you do it all during the combine, you’re like, why are we doing this? And then I looked myself up, the psychological stuff, it was like dead-on.

 

How was the advanced scouting? You went to the Superdome for the Saints. What was that like?

It was empty and so weird. (But) then you write your whole advance, and you watch all your guys for free agency. And then by the end of it, it’s amazing your catalog of dudes you know. One of my buddies is an agent, he’s got a free agent this year. Plays for the Titans. And he’s like, “This guy’s (contract is) up.” And I was like, “I know exactly who that guy is.” It’s fun when you watch guys and you’re like: “I like this guy. I think he plays well. He plays hard.” And then either we sign him or we don’t sign him. Like DaQuan Jones, I just liked him. Dan Arnold was a guy who was with the Cardinals (and Kuechly wrote up a report on him).

 

Did your film study — because we all made so much of it, and for good reason — was that helpful in that job?

No, because I found myself — well, yeah. But no in the sense of when I was watching tape (as a player) I was always watching scheme stuff. Formations. Alignments. Scheme. And then (as a scout), you’ve gotta watch this guy. So initially when I first started watching it, I’d be like, “All right, I’ve got this linebacker.” Click it and like: “All right, well now they’re in 4-3. They’re a rotation to the tight end, open-side rotation in slot.” You watch it for 30 minutes and you go to write your report and you’re like, “I just wasted a half-hour because I didn’t watch this freaking dude I was supposed to watch.” So you had to go back and watch it all over again. But (pro scout) Rob Hanrahan and (former pro personnel director) Matt Allen were awesome. Couldn’t have been more helpful. Awesome, just great dudes.

 

You played for Ron Rivera your whole career. What was it like being around Matt Rhule’s staff, and what were the differences between the two?

It’s a whole different way of thinking. Defensively, they’re very different. You just kind of had to get used to it. But like anything else, at the end of the day, it’s just football. You talk to Shaq (Thompson) and some of those guys. They’re smart guys, they can adapt. Things are a little bit different, not in a bad way at all. Everybody has a different style of how they do things. Matt’s had a lot of success in his career. First year with COVID, then we had guys banged up, it hasn’t exactly been an easy start for him.

 

You hear some guys who retire say, “I can only golf so much.” And I would think in your case, you can only hunt and fish so much. You’re a driven guy. What’s next for you?

I need to figure that out a little bit. If I knew what it was, I would have already done it. I love football, so that’s starting point No. 1. It’s really how close you want to be and how much time you want to put in. Once you figure that out, then it’s like, all right, now let’s go.

 

Is coaching too much time?

You’ve gotta figure out, how much time do you want to put in? Because you can’t be like, ehh, I’m not coming in today. That’s now how it works. I saw that with the scouting stuff. But it’d be a different way to be involved with football, so just gotta rationalize what makes sense.

 

Someone told me that at one of your rookie dinners, it went around the room and everyone said how long they wanted to play. They said it got to you, and you were very specific about playing eight years. Do you remember that?

I was always like, if I could play eight to 12. But that was when I was a rookie. I think you get to the point in your career and you play the game because you really love it. If you would have told me as a rookie, you can play eight to 12 years and have a great career, you would sign up for that all day. Because my rookie year, my first four or five games, I sucked.

 

A lot of you guys are going to start rolling up for Hall of Fame eligibility. Have you given that any thought?

Not really. I think there’s some really good guys. You look at ‘backers like Patrick Willis (who was a finalist this year). The guy that I look at is Zach Thomas (a three-time finalist). Go look at that dude’s career. You just never know.

 

You think Cam’s a Hall of Famer?

Yeah, I love Cam. Just that big, that strong.

 

He kind of revolutionized the quarterback position.

For that size. You had Michael Vick, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham. But no one with that pure, brute size. And doing what he did. I don’t think people have a real good appreciation for how big he is.

 

What would you run the 40 in today?

Like if you told me, hey, you get a week to get ready? Oh, gosh. I better be under five (seconds). I think if I could get myself to not pull a hammy, then I’d be under. If I wasn’t under five, then I should just quit football.

 

How many pro bench (225 pounds) reps?

I did 24 the other day, but you don’t need to put that in. (Kuechly did 27 reps at the combine 10 years ago.) I did that the other day with Nabes. (Laughs.) “All right, let’s see what I got.”

 

What do you tell parents who ask, should my kid play tackle football?

I just think of all the people I’ve met, the lessons I’ve learned, the fun I’ve had, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. It’s a special game. You learn a lot about yourself. It’s a great community. I think you learn that regardless of who the person is, everybody can get along. North, south, east, west — everybody can get along. That’s sweet.

Edited March 8, 2022 by Mr. Scot

[BrianS]

The only thing I would have to say about any of it is that if Luke Kuechly doesn't deserve to be in the HoF I don't know who does.  I saw Jack Lambert play.  Harry Carson.  Junior Seau.  Urlacher.  Lawrence Taylor.  None of those guys have a thing on Kuechly.