Former Perry football star Matt Carrick to coach Panthers o-line before joining XFL in '24

PERRY TWP. − It has been a busy year for former Perry High School football star Matt Carrick. And his schedule just got busier.

After going undrafted as an offensive lineman out of Michigan State, Carrick was invited to the Green Bay Packers rookie minicamp in early May. A month later, he signed with the D.C. Defenders, an XFL team that had just wrapped up its inaugural season. While he waits to report to camp in January, Perry head coach Zach Slates offered Carrick a spot on the Panthers coaching staff. Without hesitation, Carrick accepted.

He will coach the offensive line this coming season and assist in strength and conditioning with Perry’s strength coach John Foster. He’s also working full-time as a sales engineer for Always Better Communications Inc.

“I’m really excited to help those kids at Perry to become better football players and just share my knowledge with them and hopefully help them out," Carrick said. "And that’s what coaches are. The biggest thing for a coach is to be a good mentor.”

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Matt Carrick's brief stint in Green Bay, being drafted by XFL

Carrick believed he was right where he needed to be after getting an invite from the Packers minicamp. Despite not making the cut, he felt like he belonged there. He embraced the complexity of an NFL playbook, reading his thoroughly. He plans to use all the tools he learned from his first NFL experience.

“I got to learn a lot and be around a lot of good guys,” Carrick said. “It was really cool to see how NFL teams operate inside the doors. I was really happy for the opportunity, especially happy that I got up there and did a good job when I was up there.”

Carrick played 47 games and started 27 in his six seasons at Michigan State. Unfortunately, he’s dealt with multiple long-term injuries during those years. His draft stock took a hit due to his past injuries. Since then, he’s been as healthy as he's ever been.

“I feel like I’m ready to play, and I think that’s one of the most important things that I think hurt me as far as getting drafted or getting picked up right away because of my health history,” Carrick said. “I’m just excited to get into camp and answer some of the questions that those guys have about my health history that I had.”

Carrick received interest from two different XFL teams. Carrick was going to a friend’s wedding when he got the good news in early June that he'd been drafted by the D.C. team. Carrick was with his ex-teammate Jacub Panasiuk, who played for the Defenders this past season and gave him some insight on the new XFL franchise.

“When I got the phone call, he was actually in the car with me, and he’s already playing at D.C," Carrick said. "That was a pretty cool scenario.”

Panasiuk is not his only connection to the Defenders. Jack Plumb, an offensive tackle from Iowa who was at rookie minicamp in Green Bay with Carrick, also signed with the Defenders.

"It’s kind of cool that I already know someone that will be on a team,” Carrick said. “I think the XFL is a good opportunity for guys like me that feels like, 'Hey, I know I can play here like I was in Green Bay.' I saw that I can compete and do well."

Slates knew four days ahead of time that Carrick was heading to the XFL. Slates’ former college teammate from Pittsburgh, Mike McGlynn, scouted Carrick for the Orlando Guardians. It came down between the Guardians and the Defenders grabbing Carrick.

“It’s good to hear that he was going to get drafted in the XFL,” Slates said.

Matt Carrick brings pedigree to Perry's coaching staff

High school football preseason camps begin Monday across the state.

Carrick is just getting reacquainted with the system Slates is using at Perry. He remembers well the wing-T offense he dominated in as a Panther under retired head coach Keith Wakefield. Slates was an assistant for the Panthers then.

Carrick was highly recruited as an offensive lineman. He was a three-time All-Ohioan and led Perry to two straight Division II state championship games in 2015-16 before committing to the Spartans.

Perry went 4-7 last year and opens this season Aug. 17, against Central Catholic. Slates believes Carrick's presence will mean a lot to the current Panthers.

“Just to understand that we do have kids that go D-1 and obviously are making it to the professional level,” Slates said. “Just bringing that dynamic and being a player here. It means a lot as a former player who played here. It’s different when you go back to where you played and coach. He’ll understand what we do because he went through it.”

Carrick looks forward to the opportunity and plans to continue coaching once he's done playing. He wants to bring something different to the table. He wants to remain consistent, which his players can count on. He understands that he has to coach some players differently but will avoid lowering their expectations.

"As a coach, I want to be the same guy every single day, no matter what," Carrick said. "If you have a coach and you don't know what to expect from him every day, you're not going to get as much out of your guys as you could. Just the fact that yeah, we're going to work hard and going to do this and that, but at the same time, I want to be the same person no matter what in any scenario."

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Matt Carrick joins Perry coaching staff, signs with D.C. Defenders