Wednesday marked the first practice for Steve Wilks in his brand new role with the Carolina Panthers. And there to join the interim head coach were two men of particular note . . .
Buy Panthers TicketsLuke Kuechly is coming to see practice today pic.twitter.com/IJqphF2WBb
— Augusta Stone (@augustalstone) October 12, 2022
David Tepper is here for Steve Wilks’ first practice.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 12, 2022
The latter of the two, owner David Tepper, was present fresh off his, um, interesting press conference. Tepper, who decided to part ways with his first big hire in Matt Rhule on Monday, was also on hand for Wilks’ media availability yesterday.
Mentioned during that availability, by the way, was former linebacker Luke Kuechly—the second of the two men this post is about. Towards the end of his presser, Wilks was asked if he would consider bringing in the franchise great for a spot on his staff—to which he jokingly replied:
“For his playing or coaching? As I stated before, I feel good about the coaches that we have in place moving forward and I’m excited about what we’re gonna try to get done.”
Kuechly, now a member of the team’s radio broadcast crew, served as a pro scout for the organization between 2020 and 2021. Oh, and he also played a little ball before that. Perhaps you might’ve seen him on the field a time or two.