The Tennessee Titans are hoping that first-round pick and offensive tackle JC Latham can make the switch from right tackle, where he played in college, to left tackle, where the team needs him most.
Thankfully, Latham has quite a helping hand to achieve that feat after the Titans hired esteemed offensive line coach Bill Callahan this offseason. If there’s anybody who can get Latham ready to go, it’s Callahan, who is a believer in Latham being able to make the switch.
“No. 1, his athleticism, and then, of course, all of the measurable traits that he has. And then you add in size, power, strength, and it adds up to making that move (from right tackle to left tackle),” Callahan said of why he thinks Latham is capable of going from right to left tackle. “I think if you have the athleticism and you have strength and you have the muscle memory to change some skill sets, I think it’s doable.”
Callahan and Latham finally took their work to the actual practice field on Friday for the first day of rookie minicamp. Thanks to videos from beat writers, the veteran coach could be seen working extensively with the rookie.
Close look at JC Latham getting coached up by #Titans legendary OL coach Bill Callahan.
Watch & listen. pic.twitter.com/8LwDQRamdb
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) May 10, 2024
Latham got his hands on one of the sleds Callahan invented and after having some trouble initially, the Alabama product finally got the 360-pound sled moving.
“At ‘Bama, we have a sled similar to it, not exactly like that, but we just put our coaches on it,” Latham said, per John Glennon of Nashville Post. “So it’s kind of the same in that sense. But it really emphasizes technique.
“On my first rep, where [Callahan] wanted us to move it, I kind of shot out my hips and kind of got [the sled] straight up, and if you get it straight up, you’re not going to move it as a D-lineman. It will be a stalemate. So you really kind of got to gradually drive as you rise with your hips. So that’s something that I was learning as I went. But it really emphasizes [technique].”
Latham went into detail about Callahan’s approach to teaching, which includes a very direct way of telling a player they didn’t do well on a particular rep.
“He’s very, very intricate with the detail of the work,” Latham said. “And he’ll let you know, if you had a bad rep, he’ll just tell you your rep sucked. But if you did good, he’ll let you know you did good. He’ll let you know areas to improve in and he’s really intricate.”
Latham also talked about how it is working with Callahan when they’re not on the field and rightly called him “a great coach.”
“Even in the meetings, he’ll show us the film, what it should look like, how it’s supposed to be done,” Latham explained. “He’ll talk to us about it. And then he’ll even just grab one of the guys and be like, `Hey, let me see you do this, do this, do that.’
“He grabbed me out earlier when we were in the meeting and we were going over our stance, and I was in my stance for like two minutes, so [he was] just trying to show us and show me how to keep the knee bend and the weight distribution and all that. But he’s a great coach.”
Latham clearly isn’t taking his opportunity in the NFL lightly, as he looked to be in great shape. That, along with having a guru like Callahan, should make fans confident that Latham will be successful in making the switch.
