The last time Chance Warmack played under Jeff Stoutland, he was an All-American, first-team All-SEC and helped the Crimson Tide win a third national championship in four years.
A lot has changed since then.
Stoutland joined Chip Kelly's staff in Philadelphia the next year, and Warmack was selected 10th overall by the Titans in the 2013 draft. Stoutland's coaching style has translated to the NFL, but Warmack's dominance hasn't.
Now reunited after Warmack signed a one-year deal to join the Eagles this offseason, the duo is trying to re-find some of that magic.
"Chance and I had a lot of success together in the past," Stoutland said. "I know Chance like the back of my hand, and I'm excited about getting back with him, getting back together and getting him back to the level he played at when we were together before.
"I don't want to get into where he was at before because I wasn't there. I just know when I was with him, I know where to start, I know where his vulnerabilities are and I know where he needs to improve."
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Warmack went to Tennessee and became an instant starter. He started 48 games with the Titans until he landed on injured reserve early last season with a hand injury.
But he wasn't the type of dominant player the Titans thought they were getting.
Sure, Warmack was a starter with the Titans, but he never lived up to his draft status, and the team elected to forgo exercising the fifth-year option on his contract. Arguably his best season came in 2014 when ProFootballFocus ranked him as the 16th best guard in the NFL.
That's not bad, but not nearly the kind of production the Titans expected when they took him with a top-10 pick, especially as a guard. In Warmack's 2013 draft class, he was actually the second guard taken, three spots after Jonathan Cooper, who has actually had less production since entering the league after breaking his fibula and missing his rookie season.
But those two are the only guards who have been taken in the top 10 since 1997. Of the 15 guards taken in the top 10 in the modern era (since 1970), three have become Hall of Famers.
Warmack isn't even a starter right now. But he's hoping Stoutland will be able to help him find what once made him a special prospect.
"He's a very direct coach, puts his hands on you," Warmack said. "He wants you to do it a particular way, he's very detailed. You can respect that a lot as a player. Just plugging in every day, man. You're trying to get better as a player every day, little by little."
Why is Stoutland the right coach for Warmack?
"I guess I just know the buttons to push in coaching him," Stoutland said. "I know the technique that he needs to perfect to be better. I guess, like anybody else here, if you had success somewhere with somebody, then you feel good about it."
It's been over four years since Warmack and Stoutland worked together, but Warmack said the O-line coach is the same guy now that he was when Warmack was a 19-, 20-year-old kid.
Warmack will turn 26 in September.
"Same guy. Very detailed coach," Warmack said. "Looks at every little thing that could make you a better player on the field. You gotta appreciate that."
With Tennessee, Warmack played right guard, a spot that's spoken for by Brandon Brooks in Philly.
Warmack's decision to come to Philly on a one-year deal was clearly influenced by the opportunity to play under Stoutland again. But it starts with himself.
"I have to have high expectations for myself," Warmack said. "It's just icing on the cake to have a coach who knows you and knows how you think and can elevate you."
