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NFL Draft: What First-Round Pick JC Latham Says about Playing for Titans
Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham, the Tennessee Titans' first-round pick Thursday night in the NFL Draft, had an idea that the Titans might be calling his number. When Latham interviewed previously with the team, he and offensive line coach talked for two hours.
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans said Thursday night that Alabama offensive lineman JC Latham, the No. 7 overall pick in the NFL Draft, will switch to left tackle.
In his first press conference as a Titan, Latham said that he is ready to make the position change and he is excited to learn new techniques from offensive line guru Bill Callahan.
Here is a transcript of Latham's remarks.
On playing left tackle
"Absolutely, man. I was doubted a lot. So I get a chance to silence all the doubters and just go out there and give the team the best chance to succeed."
Confidence in a successful transition
"I started at left. I was recruited to Alabama as a left. And then I decided Evan Neal, he was there. He ended up going to the Giants, but before all that happened, he decided that he made the decision he wanted to play left. I wasn’t about to argue with a top-10 pick. I don’t want to cause malice within the room. And he was a great tackle. So I decided to go to right. I trained at right literally when I got to Alabama, I was never a right tackle in high school. I only played O-line for two years and that was at left. I became the No. 2 player in the country. No. 1 at my position for two seasons. So I know hard work and dedication. One of my closest friend's family told me success is when preparation meets opportunity. I hold that near and dear to my heart. So I plan to, as soon as I step in the building, get right to work."
Titans' interest before draft
"It was pretty high. My agent was telling me that a lot of their GMs and coaching staff was asking if the Chargers were interested in me, what they were planning on doing, if teams were planning on trading up past seven, if they were interested in doing things like that. So, even when the draft started, after the Cardinals picked Marvin Harrison (Jr.), they asked immediately, ‘Let us know if the Chargers are talking to him right now.’ So, we had pretty high hopes, high confidence within that they will make that decision to pull the trigger on me."
Talking with Bill Callahan for two hours
"Yeah, I loved it. Some of the techniques, I've never even heard about before just because he's such a legendary coach. So just to be able to be coached by him and pick his brain and just understand what type of guy he is on a personal level, but also understand what environment that he created with his technique and discipline. And I loved it all. I was really intrigued by it all.
"We had a two-hour discussion. I talked to him about guys at Alabama, where I was like, saying, ‘Hey, a guy did this move to me one time,’ and it might have affected me, it might have not. But I want to know if I see it down the line, what's going to happen? How do I do this? And we were just talking it about like that. We were going over stuff like that. We were going over my plays, NFL plays.
"He was with the Browns at one point, so he was showing the Browns' NFL film on that. Just everything. We sat, and next thing you know, it was two hours that went by like it was nothing. We just had a great conversation. I just can't wait to get into the building and just really dive deep into it all. So, yeah."
Callahan on the position change
"That was the expectation. He knew I was athletic enough to get the job done. He told me he knows that, especially with his teaching that, the sky's the limit with me. So, we're ready to go and hit the ground running."
Familiarity with Will Levis
"Yeah. I heard about him a lot just going — especially after last season. I heard he was a great quarterback.
"And not having — we didn't play them, obviously, two years ago. But as soon as the season was over with and I was hearing a lot of buzz around his name, I got to see what type of caliber player he is. And then he drew a lot of attention, especially after, I think, he put mayo in his coffee or something like that. So that caught my eye. So, when that happened, I just made sure, not even the coffee situation, just in general seeing that he was drafted with the Titans, I wanted to see how that would work out in that environment.
"And then, seeing him come back, I forget what team it was, but I think they were down by two touchdowns. And he was in the game, and he ended up coming back towards the end in the fourth quarter. You know, seeing a quarterback like that with the type of resilience, the type of guy that can put the team together and lead the team to victory as a team that's ready to be on the strive for greatness."
Playing style
"I have the ability to just do it all. There's never something that my coach ever told me, 'Yeah I don't know if you can do this.' Anything it came to was just hard work, dedication and commitment and being disciplined. So, we went over everything together as far as what I need to do. And I always got the job done.
"Also, one thing I feel like that's kind of undermined a little bit in sports especially, is just my availability. I never missed a game. I never missed practice ever in my life. I never had surgery. I think the worst injury I've had was like sprained ankle. I broke my toe, but I played through that. So, you can ask any coach, especially a veteran coach, a coach with experience, he'll tell you, the best ability is availability.
"So I think I bring that to the table and just my intent and my mindset of what I want to do and not only talking about it, just being about it. That's why I went to Alabama, coming out of high school. And that's why I went to IMG while I was in high school, because I didn't just want to be another guy who is all talk. I want to put myself against the best players in my environment on a day-in and day-out basis so I can have opportunities like this."
Those big mitts
"Yeah, I got some pretty big hands. Yeah. 11-inch hands. I think only one other guy, I think Marvin Harrison (Jr.) beat me by like an eighth of an inch. I think his hands were 11 and one-eighth. So yeah, I got some pretty big hands."
Origin of nickname TK
"So, when I was at IMG, my positional coach was George Hegamin. He played with the Eagles with Jeremiah Trotter, Junior's (Jeremiah Trotter Jr.) dad. One team that he played with, though, that stood out was the Cowboys with Deion Sanders and (Michael) Irvin and Larry Allen, all those guys when they were winning Super Bowls.
"Going into meetings, you'd hear coach on the phone with Deion. And he'd always go, 'Prime Time, what's going on, baby?' That just kind of stood out to me. Not because, he was able to get in contact with him, even though that's 'Prime Time'. But the fact that, not only did they have a bond, Deion's standard is 'Prime Time,' when he's playing, it's 'Prime Time.'
"Watching the 'Trips to Canton, Ohio,' the documentaries about all the players who end up going to the Hall of Fame, they have their name and then 'Trip to Canton,' whatever it might be. Deion's was 'Prime Time to Canton.'
"So, the fact that, that's how marketable and big of a deal his name is, I wanted to have a standard like that for me. Playing O-line, I was new to the position. So, I told myself, I said, 'Hey, this is what I want to do. I got to figure out what's my standard and who am I?’ And that was 'Trench King.'
"So, dubbing myself 'Trench King,' I know every time we broke it down: 'Trenches on me, trenches on three. One, two three,' and you say 'Trenches,' it's always a reminder in my head like, 'Hey, you're supposed to be the best guy in the trenches.' You can't be the best receiver or be a quarterback who can throw it, but control your environment, control the trenches, and dominate the trenches every chance you get. That's the standard of what we play to."
On mentality as a player
"Yeah, I mean, I'd take it a step further. Guys like Kobe (Bryant), Israel Adesanya, guys like that nature. They state numerous times that unless you're willing, as Kobe said it one time, he's willing to put in the work knowing that he might not get the results he seeks.
"A lot of guys don't do that. If I were to tell you, 'Hey, give me 10 hours of your day to do this, but the other person is only doing six, and I'm not guaranteeing you that you might have the spot,' you might not be committed to it because you don't know the results yet. So, Kobe's mindset that spoke out to me because if that's what I can do without knowing the results, I know that I'll be a lot closer to my goal than they would just by the time that I'm putting in."
On playing at highest levels
"I mean, even before I went to IMG, the team I played with was Catholic Memorial, I think they won like 10 or 12 state titles, I think maybe even 14. Right now, the coach is the most winningest coach in all of high school football in the state of Wisconsin.
"So that standard there elevated me to put me on the pedestal to go to IMG. I was a defensive end. I was top ten in the country. I was number three in my position. I was actually the eighth-ranked defensive end at the time. So, going to IMG being on a national scale now we're going against the best teams in the country. Like Bryce Young at Mater Dei. Chris Braswell at other schools, Dallas Turner at Saint Thomas Aquinas. Guys who are in this draft who were drafted number one overall, those were the teams that we're facing in high school.
"So, I took it as a challenge. I love to be a part of it. And just stepping on that, to having to switch over to eventually losing all my rankings and kind of in the gray area with the offers because now I'm an O-lineman and the offers were for D-line. So, taking that as a challenge to, 'Hey, like, this is what I want to do. I'm going to have to buck up and grow up and take this O-line stuff a lot more serious so I can get to college.'
"And that was my junior year when I switched. Senior year, I was ranked number two in the country, number one in my position. And I made the choice to go to Alabama because I love being in that competitive environment to where now playing with guys who are the number one pick and number three pick like Will Anderson and Dallas Turner. And so, it wasn't nothing out of the ordinary for me."
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