Michael and Kendall Coyne Schofield on COVID-19, joining the Panthers and more
Michael Schofield and his wife Kendall Coyne Schofield would like your ice cream and BBQ recommendations.
As one of the many players the Panthers signed this offseason, Schofield hopes to eventually learn his new city. Due to the impact of COVID-19, he has delayed his move to Charlotte, with the Panthers likely not having in-person offseason programming until training camp in late July.
Schofield, who played the last three seasons with the Chargers after three seasons with the Broncos, will have an opportunity to compete for a starting role at guard after Greg Van Roten signed with the Jets and the Panthers traded Trai Turner. Schofield reunites with former Broncos teammates Russell Okung (left tackle) and Matt Paradis (center), as well as offensive line coach Pat Meyer, who had that same job with the Chargers the last three years.
“Schofield, to me, is a guy that can play tackle, can play guard, played for Pat Meyer,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. “He’s now the third guy on our roster that’s played for Pat as our offensive line coach. (John) Miller was with him, Schofield was with him and Russell (Okung) was with him.
“To me, he’s a guy who’s still young as an offensive lineman. He’s really, really smart, really tough and brings a ton of of versatility.”
Coyne Schofield is a two-time Olympic women’s hockey player (one gold, one silver) and six-time world champion. She is also a color commentator for the San Jose Sharks. The pair grew up near Chicago, but didn’t meet until later in their lives at a local gym.
The pair have used some of their time over the past few months volunteering at the Orland Township Food Pantry and The Greater Chicago Food Pantry. The Schofield Family Foundation also donated 60,000 meals to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. After the interview for this story was conducted, Coyne Schofield released a statement recognizing previous mistakes she made in regard to Colin Kaepernick and vowing to do better.
The Observer caught up with the couple in a phone interview last week from their home outside of Chicago.
The Observer: What have the past few months been like for you both?
Kendall: “We’ve been quarantined here and spending time with our families, especially time that we’re not used to having. We’ve tried to really enjoy that and pull a silver lining, through all of this that we’re able to be surrounded by our family, of course, safely. Both of our parents are in that high risk category, so we have to be smart with what we’re doing, but other than that it’s stayed normal.
“For me, obviously, the ice rinks weren’t open until this week so that was really challenging not being able to be on the ice, but at the same time Michael and I woke up every day and we tried to stick to a schedule, we’d get in the basement, we’d work out, and then whether we focus on stretching or watching film later in the day, we kind of both go our separate ways, do our own separate things, in terms of our sport ,and then come together for dinner.”
Michael: “I remember we were working out at a gym and they’re like look we’re gonna close, we don’t know how long we’re going to be closed for obviously with everything going on, I remember me and Kendall, we went home right away and went on Amazon and ordered dumbbells, bikes for our basement, we need to try and stay in shape and work out. We’re doing that for a while. Fortunately, we’ve been able to be in a gym since, but there was like a good, maybe month, month and a half, we were just in our basement doing what we could.”
Do you usually work out together?
Kendall: “We’ve been working out together that’s actually how we met... so we’ve been working out together for six years.”
Michael: “Every offseason I’ve been in, this is a going into year seven in the NFL, I’ve always worked out with Kendall in a gym or just sometimes just me and her sometimes we were with a group of people or whatever so it’s fun ‘cause obviously, as you can imagine we’re both pretty competitive people. And one thing a lot of people don’t know about Kendall is she’s really, really, really strong. There will be times where I’ll go pick up a weight and I see her pick up the same weight, and I’ll be like OK I need to put on more weight now.”
Have you ever spent this much consecutive time together like this?
Kendall: “Definitely not. This is the most uninterrupted time we’ve spent together, and definitely the most time we spent together since we bought our home here, a little over two years ago. Usually I would have been at the World Championships and then Michael would have started OTAs...
“We’re extremely thankful for all of our frontline workers, our first responders and Michael’s dad is the chief firefighter of our town and his brother is also a firefighter, my brother’s a police officer, so we’ve been around a lot of first responders and knowing a lot of frontline workers, we’re very, very appreciative of all they’ve done during this time. It’s crazy to look where we were in March and where we are today and a lot of credit is due to all they’ve done to fight this pandemic because at the end of the day our job was easy, it was to stay inside and to help stop the spread and they had the hard job and so we’re very thankful for them.”
Michael, what was it like going through free agency this year?
Michael: “I just remember like right when free agency started, even a couple days before they’re like, ‘oh, there’s rumors going around they’re gonna push it back until June. Man, that would be miserable.’ And then obviously free agency started and it was really my first taste of free agency and I had no idea what to expect... I didn’t think I was going to be around that long, but unfortunately that’s just how it happened. I just remember every single day it was just stressful, you hear calls, you hear things here and there and then finally luckily enough the Panthers called, so very happy to be a part of them.”
What’s it like reuniting with Meyer and what have the virtual meetings been like?
Michael: “This will be my fourth season with Pat Meyer. He’s a great coach, he coaches great techniques, really. He’s like a player’s coach. He’s a guy you want to play for just a great, great coach, very friendly, easy guy to talk to.
“... It’s awkward, it’s hard. I’m trying to get to know guys, but it’s hard because you’re just looking at them through the screen and most of the times just the coaches talk so you don’t really get like the locker room, we get to talk and get to know guys. So it’s nice when like you see like a guy like Paradis or Russell Okung or even Pat just a familiar face every so often.”
What are your thoughts so far on the Joe Brady offense?
Michael: “It’s exciting, I remember watching the LSU national-championship game and I remember saying, ‘this guy’s gonna be in the NFL,’ I think, I said three years. Little did I know it was going to be a couple weeks after that and he was going to be my coach. It’s exciting, even with the weapons we have, I mean obviously Christian McCaffrey, Teddy Bridgewater coming in, we got some great weapons, it’s going to be a lot of fun this year to play that offense.”
Kendall, have you been practicing your broadcasting skills without any games going on?
Kendall: “What I’ve been doing, and I know we’ve actually both enjoyed this a lot, is watching old sporting events. Some are older than others but I’ve definitely been watching a lot of film. You want to be a student of the game and I think that helps me as a player and a broadcaster to dissect my play, or I’m watching an old game to learn from other broadcasters out there. So I have been trying to stay sharp in terms of watching a lot of hockey, but that’s something I love to do, so it doesn’t seem like a job to me or part of the job.”
Do you get more nervous playing or watching the other play?
Michael: “The (2018) gold medal game was one of the most stressful two-three three hours of my life, I could barely watch the game, I was so stressed because if I recall, you guys were down a goal with like seven minutes left, and I’m like, ‘what do I say if she loses, I don’t know what I’m going to say to her... And it’s like a roller coaster of emotions and it goes to a shootout. I’m like, ‘oh my god, I have no control of this game right now, like I just want to help, but I can’t. I just was trying to start as many ‘USA’ chants as I could. It’s so much worse watching her play big games than me playing in a big game.”
Kendall: “I get nervous, I just want him to be as successful as possible and him be satisfied with his performance at the end of the day.
“... I was nervous during the Superbowl. (Schofield started for the Broncos in Super 50 vs. the Panthers). I will not lie. I had lost the gold medal (in 2014), just two years prior to the Super Bowl, so I just remember thinking to myself, like, ‘gosh, like I never wish this feeling upon any athlete.’ You’re so close to your dream and then you come up short and it’s not a fun feeling, because you work so hard to be a champion and everyone deserves that feeling.”
What’s one thing people might not know about your spouse?
Michael: “Just how great of like a leader she is. She’s the captain of Team USA and she’s a great teammate, and obviously a wife to me, but she’s always one of the first people to reach out if you’re in trouble or in need.”
Kendall: “I think what I fell in love with was his unconditional support for everyone and anyone, obviously, everyone knows linemen are the giant teddy bears, they are your protector for life. And if you want to have a good meal you go to them for suggestions, all of those are true, but the way that he respects and the way that he watches and believes and supports women’s sports, I think that’s one thing people don’t know about Michael.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Michael and Kendall Coyne Schofield on COVID-19, joining the Panthers and more."
