CHARLOTTE — Ejiro Evero stood impatiently at the end of the long hall, bouncing on his feet, hands in his pockets simply to keep them from flying around in exuberance as they had just moments before, a smile breaking through from the normally stoic defensive coordinator.

A minute earlier, Dave Canales had thrown open the door of the draft room in the middle of the Panthers football offices, announcing to general manager Dan Morgan and staff, "I got some people for you to meet," which led to an exclamation when Jaelan Phillips walked through the doorway.

The commotion drew Evero out of his office in the back corner of the bullpen, and for a moment, he started that way, eager and beyond ready to meet his new pass-rusher. Then, a step back. He waited, albeit with the energy of a wind-up toy, knowing Phillips would soon make his way towards the defensive offices.

At that point, he'd waited all day to meet with his new outside linebacker. He'd waited all week for him to even be in the building after agreeing to terms with Carolina on Monday morning as a free agent. He'd waited years to have a linebacker like this, one who can play all over the field and make his 3-4 defense come alive.

He could wait another minute or two, letting the anticipation grow.

"This is better than Christmas," he grinned.

Partly because you can't fit a 6-5, 266 mammoth of a defender underneath a tree. And partly because having him here means he's no longer keeping coaches up at night, evidenced by the fact that one offensive assistant stuck his head in the hallway to quip, "I'm glad you're here. I'm tired of game planning against you."

But Phillips has waited arguably longer than Evero for this moment, earning a massive four-year deal that helped set the market for the position at the outset of the free agency negotiating period. But it was a tedious walk to get here.

Coming out of high school, he seemed destined for a career such as this. The Redlands, Calif.-native was the composite top recruit nationwide in the 2017 class. He enrolled in nearby UCLA, poised to dominate and full of promise.

"Man, that version of myself hadn't really experienced much adversity in life at all," laughed Phillips on Thursday, thinking back to the young buck looking to take the football world by storm.

He needed to learn some hard lessons, though, Phillips admitted. And unfortunately, life and football have a way of making those lessons as humbling and painful as possible.

"Grew up very well to do, family who loved him, popular, good at all his sports," continued Phillips, monologuing on what he'd tell that kid now. "He was very naive and coddled. I'd just tell him that when the adversity does come, just keep his head in there. Don't doubt himself. I think it's the biggest thing.

"I have this drive and motivation in me to be great, be the best version of myself possible, but I've definitely struggled at times with my self-confidence or just kind of being in a dark place when those times of adversity did start to happen."

When that adversity hit for the first time in college following two concussions, an ankle injury, and a freak scooter/car accident, Phillips thought it was a sign to walk away. So he did.

He threw himself into music, which had long been not only an escape but an outlet and a career for his family. His mother is a cellist, his father is a trumpet player, and his grandfather, Jon Robertson, is a world-renowned Juilliard-trained pianist and conductor.

"(Music) literally saved my life," breathed Phillips. "It was cathartic for me in a time when I really needed it most. I felt very confused, and this is after I retired from football, so my whole identity was being an athlete. I didn't know who I was outside of the sport. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, but I fell in love with music and just poured myself into it."

He humbly and self-deprecatingly admits, "I'm the least talented musician in the family," but he found his niche in music production. He crafted several songs he was particularly proud of, playing, singing, and arranging, having his fingerprints on every part. He even shared them online for a while before pulling them back down.

"Being an artist is a very vulnerable thing, and when you pour your heart and soul into something, and you put it out there, you know music is— it's up for judgment. People have their opinions about it."

Music engineering and production, though, allowed him to work through the granular parts of the song, using his linebacker brain to break down each component like it was X's and O's while staying close to the music.

And one day, he may share those songs with the world again.

"Now I have songs in the vault that I'm very proud of that I've produced, engineered, sang, wrote everything myself."

He's perhaps more prepared to do so now, thanks to the lessons both music and football have taught him about overcoming the anxious parts of sharing yourself on the national stage, be it a concert hall or a football field. And after a year away, calming his heart and his mind, the siren song of football became too strong.

Phillips transferred to the University of Miami, where he continued his musical engineering studies for a while and joined the Hurricanes football team. The time away worked. In just one year on the field, Phillips became a first-team All-American and first-round draft pick for the Miami Dolphins.

His first two seasons went according to plan. As a rookie, Phillips posted 8.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss, plus a fumble recovery. His second year, he notched a career high 61 tackles, added 7.0 sacks, and pulled in two fumble recoveries, while also forcing one. His third season looked to be going just as well with 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits, and an interception through Week 11.

Then the first injury happened—a torn Achilles tendon.

No big deal. He had come back from other injuries. He could bounce back from an Achilles tear better than ever.

"I had a really good perspective, and I saw it as really a blessing from God to be able to have this adversity and overcome it and just add to my story," recalled Phillips. "I was really motivated after that.

He turned to Pilates as a way to strengthen all the muscles that were typically ignored in a normal workout, and returned ready to get back on track.

"I kind of had this idea in my head that I was going to be comeback player of the year, and it was just going to be this grand story."

Then came the next injury.

Four weeks into the 2024 season, he suffered an ACL tear.

"That was really tough," he admitted, head shaking as he remembered it again. "It was just hard to cope with the fact that it happened back-to-back, and my motivation, the mental aspect of it, is really tough. I didn't really know what was to come.

"I knew I'd keep playing. I wasn't worried about my career or anything like that, but in terms of how successful I was going to be and would I ever be able to accomplish what I know I can accomplish, my potential?"

Music, like football, requires patience. Trying to rush a song or a play beyond its intended time can make everything sound discordant and cacophonous.

But when patient, letting the music or the play come as it may, it can create harmony.

Once Phillips was back on the field in 2025, he had to patiently wait for his first sack. It finally came in Week 5, ironically, against Bryce Young in Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers won the game 27-24, a come-from-behind victory that turned around a season early, resulting in a divisional championship and a home playoff game for the first time in 10 years, subsequently leading to a free-agent class now viewing the Carolina Panthers in a much different light.

And with the sack, Jaelan Phillips felt everything in his football life click back into place.

"So to bring it all full circle to come to this moment is pretty surreal."

A month after that Week 5 game, the Eagles traded for Phillips, needing a pass-rusher to help in their pursuit of another Super Bowl. Philadelphia came up short in the postseason, but Phillips' addition to their front seven and his insane pressure stat on opposing quarterbacks (61 quarterback pressures, 11th in the league overall) helped unlock a part of their defense.

Eventually, Phillips made his way to the other end of the hall, where Evero was containing himself as best he could, but with a vibrating energy. Dave Canales had already given Phillips a heads-up that "the defensive staff is out of their minds," excited, so it was little surprise when the defensive coordinator bounced his way, and position coaches and defensive assistants poured out of offices to meet him as well.

"(Bradly) Chubb said he loved playing under you," Phillips told Evero. The linebacker who was teammates with Phillips in Miami earned a Pro Bowl while playing for Evero in Denver in 2022.

The two spent a few minutes discussing the next steps with the playbook, when OTAs begin, and logistical details of the sort. Then it was time to move on; Evero back to draft prep and Phillips finishing up his day to get home as soon as possible.

His fiancée, Sam, is less than two weeks away from giving birth, and the couple is preparing for their lives to change forever, if for no other reason than their cats, Pat and Bean, are going to have to learn how to coexist with another being in the house who garners attention.

"They're literally my and my fiancée's kids," he said before quickly correcting himself with a laugh, "right now anyways, before we have (our son) Shiloh."

It won't be long before their lives change again with a cross-country move from California (where they both are from) and the start of something new in Charlotte.

It's a move that has felt a long time coming, though, one that required endless doses of patience and trust that it would lead here, to a new deal, a chance to reestablish himself, and a team that has been waiting for him.

"I'm just super grateful to be here," expressed Phillips. "And I just feel like this is going to be the start of something really special."