Luke Kuechly has "Hit the Ground Running" in New Role as Scout
Luke Kuechly couldn't stay away from the game for very long as he officially joined the Carolina Panthers' scouting department back in early June, just a little under five months after announcing his retirement as a player.
Kuechly, now 29, shocked the football world with his early retirement as he was entering the time of what is usually most players' prime of their career, but it was a decision that was in the best interest for him and his long-term health. In just eight seasons in the NFL, Kuechly sustained three concussions, which is typically the number of concussions when it's time to think about hanging up the cleats and calling it a career. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a serious condition many former football players are suffering from later in life from repeated blows to the head and this was something that played a major role in Kuechly's decision to retire. He wanted to lessen the chance of having this condition by moving on from his playing days.
Now that Kuechly is serving as a pro scout, one of his main responsibilities is to study up on the team's upcoming opponent and preparing information for the coaching staff so that they are ready to begin preparation on the next opponent immediately. In addition to that, Kuechly will be evaluating players and how they fit into the Panthers' scheme and according to GM Marty Hurney, he is off to a really strong start in his new role.
"He did all of that as a player. He's doing the same thing here as he was doing when he was playing - staying until nine and ten o'clock and looking at guys and evaluating and when you read his reports they're so concise and paints a good picture. He's just got a knack for it and that's just what he did. He evaluated all the offensive players every week and he's got such a great feel for what playing defense takes and he's really hit the ground running so to speak."
Although coaching could be something Keuchly decides to get into later in his career, this gives the Panthers a huge advantage in the scouting department, regardless of his experience in the role. As Hurney mentioned, this isn't necessarily something new and foreign to him - now it's his full-time job to be a film junky.
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