Coaching Luke Kuechly brought its own kind of pressure

“Yeah, don’t screw them up, don’t overcoach it,” Holcomb said. “The one thing that I wanted to do upon coming in was develop a relationship with Luke. So when you develop a relationship, then you can talk about a lot of different things, and it’s kind of everybody coming together. So when I came in, it was don’t overcoach it, coach them, give them the things that they need, in terms of the preparation, the game plan, some fundamental things, but then just let them go play.”

Sean McDermott, his defensive coordinator for his first six years in the league, said he didn’t view it as pressure, but evidence of Kuechly’s competitive nature. He was constantly pushing everyone to get better, including himself.

“I never felt pressure, and partially because Luke was such a class act,” McDermott said. “But also because he always approached his role on our defense, at least when I was here, in a very curious manner, like, how can I learn more? How can I grow more? And he was always so curious.

“I vividly remember many a night, Wednesday, Thursday, especially Thursday nights, Luke being there late in the film room downstairs watching film. And you go in there, stop in to see him and check in on him, and you know there may be another linebacker or another defensive player or two, and as you said, he had this ability to kind of be a magnet and guys would just kind of go in there.

“It became a habit for half the defense, but it’s just his ability, his curiosity of the game and wanting to learn, that was unique in and of itself.”