Secrets revealed behind ‘elite level’ choice as Netflix NFL analyst lands historic debut

The 2026 NFL season will be a big one for Netflix.

The streamer is expanding in a major way this year, with more pro football games and coverage than ever, starting in Week 1 and continuing through Super Bowl week.

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Having added The Ringer’s NFL podcast portfolio to it’s offering, all eyes are also on their biggest ever live game offering.

With a stacked slate that features the NFL’s first-ever regular season game in Australia on September 10, before a Thanksgiving Eve clash and Christmas Day tradition, Netflix is building its own roster of on air talent to call the action.

Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly was surprisingly selected as the platform’s No. 1 analyst, and will share the booth with play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle for four games.

The pair will debut together in Melbourne, when the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers go head-to-head in a historic game that is now just days away.

Kuechly, who has never called a nationally televised game, reportedly auditioned with Eagle for the role back in July, and according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, the two ‘showed immediate chemistry’ together.

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The latter has now revealed exactly how the Carolina Panthers legend landed the top job at Netflix.

Secrets to Luke Kuechly’s Netflix audition revealed

“It was unquestioned that his knowledge for the game was an elite level,” Eagle said, during a recent appearance on the Sports Media Watch podcast.

“I just watched him as a player, and you can see that one, the knowledge for the game is clear, but also the preparation going into each week, and that’s what he brought with him to the audition.

“We called a game from last season, sat down, and immediately, he just, it was as if he could see things happening before they happen.”

Eagle went on to reveal that Netflix were specifically looking for someone who could translate their football IQ into a three-hour broadcast.

“That’s the question mark for somebody who’s never really done it, but when we sat down, he was comfortable fast,” Eagle explained.

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“You get into a rhythm, and then you just let it rip, and then I think the last part was personality, where this is the other unknown.

“The player stuff, when guys are film junkies to the level that he was, and that’s what he was known as, somebody who lived in the film room.

“When you have all that stuff, we already knew that the question marks are the comfortability and the personality, and I think him showing his personality was really what sold everybody.”

Eagle added that Kuechly showed a ‘willingness’ to rally back and forth, and ‘joke around’ when it was the right time for it, but then get serious when needed.

“And then the last thing that I would say that I think really left an impression was how coachable he is,” Eagle concluded.

“He was thirsty for more knowledge. He was thirsty to improve, and this was only in one day.

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“So if this is day one, how’s it gonna be day 10 and day 15 and day 100? And when you just do it more and more and more, he’s naturally gonna get even better as he goes.”

Viewers tuning into Netflix, it seems, will be in for a treat in 2026.

Eagle and Kuechly will be on the call for the 49ers vs Rams on September 10, before taking in games around the holiday season, as well as a Week 18 game come January.