He attended St. Xavier High School in the Finneytown area of Cincinnati, where he played linebacker and safety for the football team.

[5] After official visits to Boston College, Virginia, Duke, and Stanford, Kuechly committed to the Eagles in January 2009.

[7][8] As a true freshman in 2009, Kuechly became the Eagles' starting outside linebacker after Mark Herzlich announced that he would miss the season after being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

[23] Kuechly compiled his stats in the 12-game regular season, as the team finished with a 4–8 record and was ineligible for post-season play.

On January 6, 2012, Kuechly announced his intention to forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2012 NFL draft.

Completely unassuming, we'd walk right by him, and you wouldn't even know he was an NFL player... kind of has that Clark Kent air about him.

When Beason was placed on injured reserve due to a torn Achilles tendon, Kuechly was moved to middle linebacker.

[38] Due to his strong performance at middle linebacker, Rivera announced that Kuechly would be the team's long-term starter at that position even after Beason returned from his injury.

[39] In a 30–20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14, Kuechly recorded a career-high 16 tackles and was honored as NFC Defensive Player of the Week; Kuechly received the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Month award in December, recording a league-high 59 tackles over the final five games of the season.

Kuechly led the league with 164 tackles during the regular season and recorded eight pass deflections, one sack, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries.

[49][50] On Sunday, December 22, 2013, Kuechly recorded 24 tackles and one interception in a game against the New Orleans Saints, which the Carolina Panthers won and made the playoffs.

[54][55][56] Further, Kuechly joined Taylor, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Dana Stubblefield, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher, and Terrell Suggs as the only players to win both awards.

[59] During the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kuechly recorded nine tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and had a tipped pass that led to an interception.

[60] In a Week 2 game against the Detroit Lions, Kuechly recorded 11 tackles and two pass deflections en route to a 24–7 victory.

[64] Kuechly finished the regular season, leading the NFL in tackles with 153, along with three sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, and a career-high 12 pass deflections.

[69] During the Panthers' Divisional Round loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Kuechly was credited with eight total tackles (two solo and six assisted).

[71] On September 10, 2015, Kuechly signed a five-year, $62 million extension with the Panthers, becoming the NFL's highest-paid middle linebacker by annual average salary.

He also had three passes defended and an interception in overtime to set up a Graham Gano game-winning field goal.

Kuechly followed up his impressive performance the following week during the Panthers 37–29 victory over the Green Bay Packers, where he recorded a team-high nine tackles and four stops to go along with his fifth pass defensed of the season.

[80] The next week, Kuechly recorded 7 tackles, 2 passes defenses, and 2 interceptions for 49 yards and a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in a 33–14 win, which helped Carolina reach 11–0.

[81] During the game, Kuechly became the first player with picks on back-to-back plays from scrimmage since 1997 and upped his career total to 10, most among all linebackers since 2012.

[83] According to PFF through the first 12 weeks of the season, Kuechly's 17.6 run-stop percentage ranked first for any defensive player regardless of position with at least 100 snaps against the run.

[84] During the Panthers week 14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Kuechly recorded his fourth interception of this season against quarterback Matt Ryan.

[85] During the Panthers thrilling 38–35 victory over the New York Giants to move them to 14–0, Kuechly recorded 15 tackles, his highest total since 2014 Week 5.

[86] Kuechly was the winner of PFF's inaugural Dick "Night Train" Lane Award, given to the defender who performed the best in pass-coverage over the course of the season.

[115] Overall, on the 2018 season, he started in all 16 games and finished with two sacks, 130 total tackles, five quarterback hits, one interception, six passes defensed, and two forced fumbles.

[122] In Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London, Kuechly recorded his first interception of the season off Jameis Winston in the 37–26 win.

[123] In Week 8 against the San Francisco 49ers, Kuechly recorded a team high 10 tackles and intercepted Jimmy Garoppolo once in the 51–13 loss.

[134] In 2024, Kuechly added television announcing duties when CBS Sports hired him as an analyst for its coverage of college football.

After his rookie season in the NFL, Kuechly returned to Boston College and completed a full semester of classes toward his undergraduate degree.