CHARLOTTE — As Carolina Panthers legendary linebacker Luke Kuechly is set to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, Channel 9 Sports spoke with those who knew Luke before he hit the big time.
“I guess for me ... I never really thought past, whatever.... when he was in high school. I never thought past that, it was always fun going to the games. High school football games in Ohio are great and exciting. And then when he started to get offers for college, I’m like, oh, who would have thought?” said Eileen Kuechly, Luke’s mother.
“I can tell you exactly when we, Ron [Rivera] and I, decided is -- I went, I think it was the first week in November on a Thursday. Florida State played Boston College. Our scouts, Jeff Morrow and Ryan Cowden and Robert Haines and Jeff Bather, all those guys, they said, listen, this guy’s the real deal,” said Marty Hurney, Carolina Panthers General Manager from 2002-2012 and 2017-2020.
“The better the player, the easier the report is to write he was the easiest report I’ve ever had to write because you try to find something that would hold him back we call them fail factors like what would make this prospect not make it and you just couldn’t find one. For linebackers in particular the big thing is instincts and he’s had the most instinctive player I’ve ever seen still,” said pro scout Robert Haines.
“They’re playing Florida State on a Thursday night...I think the score ended at like 38 to 7, something like that. Luke Kuechly was all over the field, I mean sideline to sideline. Making plays everywhere. And he didn’t have a lot in front of him, right? So I went back to Ron. Now this is the middle of November of 2011. I said, Ron, this guy’s incredible,” Hurney said.
“He wouldn’t stop. You know, it was one of those things, it was a great conversation he and I were having and he kept praising Luke and talking about Luke and I kept thinking to myself, well duh, all you gotta do is put the tape on Marty,” said Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers Head Coach from 2010-2019.
“He had that intensity with his brothers on everything. He would instigate and aggravate with one until he got them where he wanted them and then he’d go to the next one,” said Tom Kuechly, Luke’s father. “I didn’t know that at the time maybe, but I can see it looking back now. I can see the intensity that he had going back to his first year. Again, I didn’t realize what was going on at the time, but now I can see that it had a hold on him.”
“I could share the Steve Specht story which I’ve told a number of times So Steve Specht was ... John and Luke, our oldest and Luke were on the same football team their senior year. They won state when Luke was a junior and John was a senior. And so after that game, the head coach, Steve Specht, called Tom and I in to his office and said, I just want to let you know that he’s getting offers to play in college. And he said, and to be honest with you, I’m not going to be surprised at all if you find him playing on Sundays. And in my head, I’m like, what are you talking about? That’s not going to happen.” Eileen said.
“It was Luke the whole time. It was one of those things that everybody wanted to talk about; well if he’s not here who we going to take? And I didn’t want to talk about it, I wanted to stay positive and believe that he was gonna be there. I think we were more concerned with Tampa Bay, who was a couple more ahead of Miami, because they were looking for a defensive player as well. They took a safety,” Rivera said.
“And after Tampa took Mark Barron, I was ready to put the cigar in my mouth because I already had Ryan Tannehill booked for Miami because Mike Sherman, they were together at Texas A&M. Mike Sherman was his coach,” Hurney said. “This was back in the day where we sent guys up and you actually had tables where a representative in the organization would run the card up. While I’m sitting back there thinking we’re home free, one of our guys up there says they got Luke Kuechly’s card written up on their table. Well, my stomach, I think my stomach’s doing the same thing right now, just even thinking about the possibility. I thought he was gone. So we waited ... and they took it down. They took it all the way down and uh, they announced Ryan Tannehill.”
With the ninth pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers made their historic selection.