Jah-Marien Latham Ready for Bigger Role in New Position on Alabama Defense

Jah-Marien Latham played his high school football about 40 miles from the University of Alabama campus at Pickens County High School. He always knew he wanted to play for his hometown team. But when Nick Saban retired in January, Latham had a choice to make: enter the transfer portal to find a new school, or stay and play for the Crimson Tide under a new coaching staff.

Latham chose the second option.

"I ain’t ever been too much on trying to stray away from pressure," Latham said. "I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to come to Alabama coming out of high school, regardless of what everybody else did. I feel like, if I’m leaving now, what am I really doing? I’ve been here for four years and dedicated my whole life to this program, so why would I leave now and go to a whole ‘nother program. I feel like that’s not holding up my loyalty here just for the staff and the players in general.”

Latham wanted to remain loyal to Alabama after four seasons with the Crimson Tide. But he also realized that whether he stayed or left, he was going to have to introduce himself to new coaches regardless.

However, it did help that his position coach, Freddie Roach, made the transition over from the old staff to the new coaching staff under head coach Kalen DeBoer. Latham said Roach was one of the people that helped the players know that the Alabama program wasn't going anywhere while all the transition and uncertainty was happening.

"At the end of the day, you committed to the University of Alabama, and the University of Alabama’s committed to you," Roach told the players during the coaching search. "We’re gonna be alright regardless. When you have resources like this and an AD like Greg Byrne, you’re going to find the best football coaches out there. And that’s what we did.”

Working with the new coaches that have a different defensive scheme is allowing Latham to transition into a different role. Under Saban, Latham played as a pretty traditional defensive lineman. In new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack's defense, Latham will play in the "Bandit" position as more of a hybrid between a defensive lineman and edge rusher.

Latham didn't know who Wommack was before the former South Alabama head coach joined DeBoer's staff. But in one of their first meetings when Wommack was explaining his defense, he showed clips of what he wanted, and then showed clips of Latham himself and how he fit in this new defense.

The fifth-year defender dropped about 10 pounds this offseason, slimming up his frame to better fit his new role in the defense and changed his number from 93 to 20. Latham has had to patiently wait his turn at Alabama, only playing one game his first season in 2020. He redshirted in 2021 after only appearing in four games. His playing time increased in 2021 with 12 appearances, and last year he played rotational minutes in all 14 games.

Over his Crimson Tide career, Latham has 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks. So some fans might not be as familiar with Latham as other names on the roster, but in Wommack's defense, he's ready for a big year in 2024.

"I went to a small high school, so I always feel like I’ve been under the radar. So it always motivated me to go extra hard," Latham said. "Even now in this situation, I still feel like I’m under the radar. Not too many people know of me, but you’re going to find out this year."