CHARLOTTE — Dave Canales has been preparing himself for this kind of job for a long time, but there was no way to really know what today would be like.

And he's had an offseason to get ready for what it would be like. But how can he know? He's never done this.

Wednesday, the abstract concept became concrete — he's the head coach of an NFL football team, and he was coaching his first training camp practice. It's real now. And the only thing he knew to do to prepare for it was to ask a couple of guys who had.

A couple of guys with a combined 309 wins, two Super Bowl titles, and a Gold Jacket between them.

"It was great, you know, it's such a challenge for me," Canales said when asked about his first day in this brand new set-up. "I had an amazing opportunity this summer to spend some time with Tony Dungy, who is one of my mentors. I talked to Pete Carroll on the phone and just kind of asked them what to expect.

"And, I think the part that made me a little anxious is I know that I can't walk into this with 30 years of head coaching experience to be able to see everything, but I want to just continue to challenge myself to see it all, see what's happening, not just on the offensive side for sure. That's what I'm here to do to make sure we step out on a good foot. But to see what's happening on the defensive side and how it's all fitting in. Spending time with special teams, we had some great periods out there where we're teaching fundamentals, which are going to be critical.

"So I think more and more, how much can I see on any given play? But, I think in general, just I was just really excited, really humbled, and really grateful for it to have this opportunity and to really feel supported by a staff of amazing coaches and by a bunch of players who are hungry to do something this year."

Canales had a long background with Carroll, working his camps in Southern California before spending a year with him at USC and then following him to Seattle.

So, he had an opportunity to know what Carroll might say.

With Dungy, Canales has background with the Hall of Fame coach from some offseason fellowships, but got a chance to come even closer this summer.

Dungy invited Canales to Colorado this summer to take part in a family retreat tied to his foundation, which led to another opportunity for the rookie head coach. In addition to five days in the mountains with his wife and kids (a pretty cool perk), they also spoke to the United States Olympic wrestling team in Colorado Springs, Colo., before they left for Paris.

"Just an incredible opportunity," Canales said, eyes wide and getting to take part in another team-building effort (like his trip to Hendrick Motorsports with the Panthers in June).

And as he absorbs lessons from a couple of the best coaches of the modern era, Canales is trying to apply those lessons back home.

Asked specifically what he took from those conversations, and Canales went back to the emphasis on preparation that he took from both.

"There are things you're not going to be able to anticipate that may happen," he said. "It may come from different areas of the program, things that you're going to have to be able to in stride, kind of handle and answer, and then get back to the football. Handle it, answer it, get back to the football. So I take the reminder, continue to get back to the football part of it so that all the other things don't detract from what we're trying to get done."

With those lessons in mind, Canales came in and treated the day the way he had so many days since he arrived.

He wasn't the first guy out on the field — because he always likes to get a workout before practice, something he stole directly from Carroll.

But when he left the weight room and headed to the new-look practice fields, everything was different, from signing autographs on the way in to greeting the fans who filled the bleachers to being able to enjoy it all with his family by his side after practice.

It was a lot. It was brand new. But even as he talked to the fans, the message kept coming back to the most important part — the football.

As he talked about taking that moment around 9:15 a.m. — about 15 minutes before his first practice started in earnest — he tapped into the energy he felt around him.

"I love the noise. I love the music. I love the fans being here so that they can just lock in and execute and do their job at the highest level at any part of our practice," he said. " Because we want to finish. But it was really cool. It was really cool to address the fans beforehand, just to see the faces and the people who are pulling for us. And just to know that again, what is it going to be all about?

"It's just getting our football right and making sure that we're bringing a product every day while we're improving."