CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- New Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown likely would have been holding court at a table with a group of walk-ons if you strolled into the Auburn dining hall last fall. Not fellow football stars -- just those hoping to get a scholarship and soaking up everything the defensive tackle had to say.

He likely would have been hanging out in the equipment room with the student managers or in the recruiting office, away from the coaches and teammates, if you walked into the football facility.

It would be like watching a presidential candidate on the campaign trail, meeting everybody in the building.

“He has the ability to make other people follow," Auburn defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. “He has that personality that makes people want to be around him."

Brown was given the nickname “Baby Barack," after former president Barack Obama, when he was the vice president of Auburn’s student-athlete advisory council. His aspiration is to one day be a political lobbyist. Maybe even more.

But for now, the Panthers want their first-round draft pick to be a leader in the locker room as first-year coach Matt Rhule rebuilds a team coming off consecutive losing seasons and three in the past four years since reaching Super Bowl 50.

The Panthers this offseason lost most of their key leaders from the Ron Rivera administration. Linebacker Luke Kuechly retired unexpectedly in January. Tight end Greg Olsen, quarterback Cam Newton and safety Eric Reid were released. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, outside linebacker Bruce Irvin and defensive end Mario Addison moved on in free agency.

So the core of Rhule’s new leadership will come from this draft class -- made up of seven defensive players, the first time in modern NFL history that has happened. Rhule's first recruiting classes at Temple and Baylor were key to turnarounds there.

So it was Brown’s leadership, in addition to him being a 6-foot-5, 318-pound disruptive force, that led Carolina to make him Rhule's first draft pick.

“For me, it was the cherry on top," Rhule said.

Cold call

Rhule was in his home office last Friday, the day after the first round of the draft, when he got a call from Auburn coach Gus Malzahn.

Their paths had never crossed before even though both were successful college coaches. Malzahn, who coached Newton to a national title before he came to Carolina with the first pick of Rivera's tenure in 2011, had to go out of his way to get Rhule’s private phone number.

He wanted to let Rhule know, beyond Brown’s football prowess, just what he had with his first-ever draft pick.

Malzahn can’t wait to see what Brown accomplishes in the NFL. He sees the same star potential in him that he saw in Newton, the 2011 NFL Rookie of the Year and 2015 NFL Player of the Year.

“Derrick is in that same atmosphere," Malzahn said. “He’s that special of a player. He is a player that can change a game. He’s an impact player. He just completely disrupts offenses. Offenses have to game plan around him."

Offenses typically double- and triple-teamed Brown, or simply ran the play away from him. Carolina offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who was the passing-game coordinator for national champion LSU, had to adjust his plan for Brown more than any player he faced.

But those things don’t begin to describe who Brown really is.

“He’s so well-rounded," Malzahn said. “Not just a dominant football player, not just a team leader, but he’s a leader on our campus. They’re getting a complete package."

Baby Brown

Garner laughed when he recalled the moment Brown finally told him that he and his girlfriend, Tayla Main, were expecting a child.

“He was scared to tell me," Garner said. “He wanted his mom to tell me. So we talked and I said, ‘Now you understand, man, it’s time for you to grow up. It’s not about you anymore. Now it’s going to be about somebody else. You discover what your real why is.’"

Kai Brown is 1. Derrick Brown is trying to raise him with the same standards his parents gave him.

James Brown is a law enforcement officer and ex-military. Martha Brown is a department manager at Walmart.

“Martha and James did a great job of raising him," Garner said. “He’s a little naïve of some of the stuff kids are experiencing today because his parents shielded him. So him getting that responsibility, it really helped him transition into manhood.

“He’s always been just an incredible person. It really just got him to dial in."

Commitment

Brown easily could have left Auburn a year ago after his junior season and been a first-round pick, giving him millions to begin raising Kai and taking care of his parents.

Then he was reminded of his goals when he signed his scholarship out of Lanier High School in Buford, Georgia. Among those was to win national awards and be a top-10 draft pick.

“Kai refocused him on those goals when he set out on this journey," Garner said.

Said Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele: “He’s a finisher. Whatever he starts, he give it his all. He practices like that. He goes to school like that. That’s who he is."

That never was more evident than at the end of last season, when top prospects on teams that aren't in major bowls are contemplating whether to risk potential injury leading into the combine season.

Rhule watched Brown's final game in the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl on Thursday morning, hours before knowing Brown would be available at No. 7. He walked away from his first meeting with Brown at the Senior Bowl knowing this was the player he wanted; rewatching his final college game affirmed it.

“Here's a guy who came back for his senior year," Rhule said. “He's a consensus top-10 pick. He goes to play in the bowl. It's not the playoffs. He's playing against the University of Minnesota. He plays every snap except for maybe a couple as his normal rotation.

“And there's a goal-line stand where he is playing as hard as he can, and to me that's what we need right now in this time. We need guys that are dedicated."

High praise

Garner has coached more than 40 defensive linemen who have played in the NFL in his time at Georgia, Auburn and Tennessee. Among them are former Georgia defensive tackles Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud, who were the sixth and 13th picks of the 2001 draft. Both became All-Pro players.

He insists Brown is ahead of both at this point in his career.

Brown’s leadership is a part of Garner’s reasoning.

“The Panthers got a guy that can be the face of [the organization]," Garner said. “He’s going to be that guy in the locker room that is going to take that message from the head coach and take it to the locker room."

Steele, the Panthers' linebackers coach during their first four seasons (1995-98), compared Brown to Sam Mills and Kevin Greene in terms of their leadership, which propelled the team to the NFC title game in the organization’s second season in 1996.

Mills exemplified that leadership so much that founding owner Jerry Richardson made him the only player with a statue outside Bank of America Stadium. Greene is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Steele sees those same characteristics in Brown.

“No. 1, he’s one of those people when he speaks, people listen ..." Steele said. “He speaks with conviction, so he’s a natural leader.

“And I’m talking about with all people. Obviously, he’s that on the field, but off the field he’s that, too."

That’s why the Panthers believe Brown is the perfect fit for a rebuild.

“If he chose to get into politics ..." Garner said, pausing. “Let’s put it this way. He would be very successful at it."