CHARLOTTE, NC (WCCB Charlotte) –Kurt Coleman is no longer the new guy in the Panthers locker room.
In fact, he’s taking on a new role now–teacher.
After the Panthers selected three cornerbacks in the 2016 NFL Draft, James Bradberry, DJ Worley and Zack Sanchez, part of Coleman’s job will be to groom the young-guys into contributing players right away.
“The great part about this game is that we are able to lead from the top, bottom and even across,” Coleman said. “I do lead, but we also have guys that are rookies that are asked to lead as well. We have guys like Dean (Marlowe), Tre (Boston), everyone is asked to lead in certain types of ways.”
It’s just that Coleman’s way comes with six years of experience.
Coleman fit into the Panthers system soon after signing as a free agent before last season. The seventh year safety won the starting free safety job out of camp and proceeded to have a career year. Coleman led the team with seven interceptions last season.
With the departure of Josh Norman, other Panthers teammates see Coleman as a vocal leader in the secondary.
“Kurt probably has the hardest job of any veteran player we have right now,” linebacker Thomas Davis said. “He has three new guys in the back-end with him. It’s important for Kurt to be that leader back there and he’s doing a really good job of doing it right now.”
Coleman, 27, is on the final year of his two-year contract with the Panthers.
