MOBILE, Ala.—The setting and scene is technically the same — mid-January in Mobile, Alabama.

The bright orange of Reese's Senior Bowl banners lining the streets, just below trees laden with Mardi Gras beads and preparing for the next wave coming on Friday night as this year's carnival season kicks off is the same.

The smell of the nearby bay and the energy pulsing through the historic streets as the top prospects in this year's NFL draft meet with coaches and general managers from all 32 teams is the same.

Practices under the Southern sun, fans lining the entryways, scouts from different teams who spend as much time with each other as they do those from their own clubs while traveling this time of year, throwing out inside jokes across the stands as they jot down notes about the position group they're watching that day, it's all the same.

For Dave Canales and Dan Morgan, though, it feels like an entirely new world. This year, they just get to work, instead of being the new guys.

"I think it's a little different this year, obviously not having mics attached to us and everything," laughed Morgan on Tuesday, standing on the sideline of Hancock Whitney Stadium in West Mobile, players from the first practice session of the day shuffling off the field to make way for the next group.

The mics of a year ago were there to follow along as the rookie head coach and rookie general manager learned the ropes in their first days on the job.

"Me and coach Canales were talking about it on the way over here," continued Morgan. "It's just, you know, to come here with a clear mind and not have to worry about any of the new interviews and all the new type of stuff; it's just nice for us to come out here and concentrate and be able to build a roster."

This time last year, they were focused on building a roster, yes, but more so focused on creating a standard, a new culture, and an identity. And even before delivering his now famous call for "dawgs," Morgan stood in Mobile last January and watched Xavier Legette, Trevin Wallace, Chau Smith-Wade, Jaden Crumedy, and Andrew Raym, setting the foundation for a rookie class that contributed from top to bottom.

A year ago, Dave Canales had a suitcase waiting on him in Mobile, packed full of Panthers equipment and gear since he went there before he saw his office for the first time. The Port City was his first stop on the trip from Tampa, where he had been the Buccaneers offensive coordinator, to Charlotte for his first introduction as head coach. That meant he had nothing blue in his closet, nothing with the Carolina logo, nothing that could pass as such.

So equipment manager Don Toner packed a bag for a coach he had yet to meet, with gear Canales would need until he could make it to Bank of America Stadium.

This year, Canales was able to walk through the crowd without having to introduce himself or remind those who'd been buried in draft prep that he was with a new team. The 2024 season—helping Bryce Young and the Panthers turn a corner in the second half of the season—preceding him onto the field and into the meetings, letting prospects know he's the Panthers coach and the coach for the foreseeable future.

Getting back to Mobile a year later wasn't without trials, tribulations—to be expected—and some success — which was hoped for. But past years had tempered those expectations.

Morgan moved through his first draft like he was trading baseball cards, but as mentioned above, put together a rookie class in the process that was able to contribute at every level, from a first-round pick (which he nabbed at the 11th hour) to undrafted free agents.

But he also reached a point where he had to trade what had been the jewel of the offseason free agent class, saw two of his defensive stalwarts, Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson, lost to season-ending injuries in the first four weeks of the season, and had to restock the roster week-to-week.

"I would say expect the unexpected," Morgan offered almost three weeks ago in his final press conference recapping his first season. "In my seat, there's something new that comes across your desk every single day, and I think the biggest thing being a GM is problem-solving.

"You got to be a really good problem solver. You have to be a really good communicator with your staff, always be available, and always have your door open for anybody to come in. If there are any problems, issues, or suggestions, I always have an open-door policy.

"But yeah, I would say definitely first-year GM, expect the unexpected, expect the early text in the morning, the text that you weren't really expecting or even a late-night text, so it's definitely a problem-solving position."

For Canales, his first season as a head coach was tasked with managing said ever-evolving roster while learning to be the man in charge, the man who also gets those texts, and balancing it all with being the play caller.

"Really, the last, you know, three offseasons have been kind of turbulent for me and my family (with new jobs), so I'm looking forward to that part," Canales shared back on the first day of the new year while preparing for the Panthers final game of the season when asked what he was looking forward to this offseason with little to no turnover happening.

"Then from a football standpoint, like having a staff in place, being able to look at free agency, knowing our roster, seeing these guys every day at practice, seeing them in games, kind of looking at our roster and challenging it again, against like who's out there and all those things.

"I think just Dan and I will have a better place to start with the infrastructure and the systems set in place, so I do feel a lot better about that; going to the Senior Bowl, not to just hang out with Dan to get to know him again. Now it's like we've spent so much time (together) for a year, we're going there with a plan about just what's out there."

It was obvious to anyone watching the duo in Mobile this week that there was a greater sense of ease as they moved through the day. Last year, Canales bounced around like a kid hyped up on all the Reese's that cover every surface during Senior Bowl week. He was a bit more subdued this time, the energy and positivity that seems ingrained in his DNA still there, but a more critical eye ran over the prospects and the entire process.

It was a testament to how the first-time head coach made it through his initial season, becoming the first incumbent Panthers coach since 2022 to make it back to Mobile. Canales made it clear to his staff last spring that he had a foundation for how he wanted things done and pillars that represented what was important, but he was open and more than willing to let his staff and team color in the rest.

The goals were important; the logistics were just details.

"Hopefully, it feels like it's their team," said Canales. "For me and the coaching staff, we want to set the foundation, and we want to set—we give them the information, and then we say, 'OK now you guys go do it, you know, do it together and break that huddle together. Finish plays together,' and that's what I've seen happen.

"I've seen guys be able to do that, regardless of what the play might have been. So, hopefully, it's an ownership thing. Hopefully, it's the coaching staff saying, guys, we're going to ask you to do things. We're going to ask you to execute these fundamentals and all those things, but ultimately, this is your team."

The faces of that team will inevitably change, as they do year-to-year, and new ones will be added. Maybe even some that first introduced themselves to the Panthers staff in prospect meetings this week.

"I think it's just about bringing the best football players in here," Morgan said this week, "drafting the best football players regardless of the position, and the same goes into free agency."

The setting is technically the same: Dan Morgan and Dave Canales strolling the sidelines and sidewalks together in Mobile. For that matter, the goal is the same: finding the next wave of talent to help change a team. But for the duo, it's also an entirely new world, one in which they have seen the fruits of their labor, the results of late nights and early mornings, and now can head back to Charlotte, knowing they laid the path a year ago. Now, it's just about finishing.