CHARLOTTE — Dan Morgan is coming home. 

And he's also reconnecting with one of the people who helped give him a start in his second career.

The Panthers hired Morgan as the team's assistant general manager Saturday, bringing the former first-round pick and Pro Bowl linebacker back to the place his professional playing career began.

The 42-year-old Morgan has been working as the director of player personnel with the Bills (alongside familiar faces from his days here, including GM Brandon Beane).

But he got his start in personnel, and made his connection with Panthers GM Scott Fitterer, when he worked as an intern with the Seahawks in 2010.

"He was very helpful to me when I first got there," Morgan told Panthers.com in January, when Fitterer was hired. "All those guys were really good with me early on, but he took me under his wing when I was new and was willing to let me pick his brain about college scouting and what he did.

"He's good at a lot of things, but first and foremost, he's just a great guy."

If Morgan scouts the way he played, the Panthers will be delighted to have him back.

He was their first-round pick in the 2001 draft, which also brought defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and wide receiver Steve Smith, and helped lead a defensive turnaround that took the team to Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Though Morgan's career was star-crossed, and injuries kept him from reaching his full potential, there were plenty of highlights.

The 18 tackles against the Patriots in the Super Bowl were near the top of that list, but he was instrumental in the team going from last in the league in defense in 2001 to second in the league in 2003. He was also named to All-Pro in 2004, and went to the Pro Bowl that year, but injuries began to stack up, cutting a bright career short. He retired as a player in 2008.

Morgan was also recently voted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his standout career at Miami.