JC Latham on Kadyn Proctor's return: 'The grass isn't always greener'
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Kadyn Proctor shocked the college football world on Tuesday when he announced his plans to re-enter the transfer portal and return to Alabama. After less than two months at Iowa, Proctor changed his mind on returning to his home state and plans to enter the portal again when the spring window opens and rejoin the Crimson Tide.
Proctor started all 14 games at left tackle during Alabama’s 2023 season and played opposite JC Latham, who declared for the 2024 NFL Draft after his junior campaign ended. Following his Pro Day workout on Wednesday, Latham shared his thoughts on Proctor’s return.
“That’s the standard. We’re the standard,” Latham told reporters. “The grass isn’t always greener in other places, so when things happen and you think it might be better somewhere else, you get to find out the hard way that it’s not. It’s Alabama for a reason.”
Proctor was the third Alabama offensive lineman to transfer during or after last season, and with Latham also moving on to the NFL, the Tide was faced with replacing three starters on its line. To start spring drills, Alabama only had four scholarship tackles on its roster.
But now with Proctor set to return to Tuscaloosa, help is on the way. The 6-foot-7, 360-pounder will be working in a new offense and under a new staff with head coach Kalen DeBoer taking over since he left, but Proctor will be the most experienced tackle on the team.
Selected to the All-SEC Freshman Team by the league’s coaches, Proctor made an “amazing amount of improvement” over the course of his freshman year, Latham said on Wednesday, and will give a thin Tide position group a boost whenever he re-enrolls after the spring.
“He was a young pup when he first got in, and then just from summer, fall camp and moving forward, just the ability to adjust on the fly and keep things going,” Latham said. “You look at the last game compared to the first game, you’ll see improvement right there.”
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