Kane Wommack has one defined goal as Alabama’s defensive coordinator: return the Crimson Tide to being the most respected unit in college football on defense.
After watching greatness with Kirby Smart and Jeremy Pruitt, Tide fans were subjected to four years of defensive decline under Pete Golding in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alabama had talented players in the Golding era, but his play-calling allowed for opposition to run the football, score a lot of points, and create explosive plays. Kevin Steele restored the Tide to a relentless mentality, yet he retired after the 2023 season. Wommack, 37, comes over from South Alabama with fresh ideas, a 4-2-5 defensive system, and a hunger to be the best. He watched Alabama in the early years under Saban dominate in scoring defense and situational defense.
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In an interview with Adam Breneman of Next Up, Wommack stressed the importance of returning to that.
“Face value, it’s about scoring defense,” Wommack said about how he evaluates defensive analytics.
*Kane Wommack explains the value of being elite on scoring defense and situational defense at the 8:20 mark
“It’s about finding ways to stop people whether the drive starts on the 1-yard line or the -1-yard line, it does not matter. It’s about finding ways to get off the field. I think in order to do that you have to be situationally special. I think you have to be able to get off the field on third down. You have to look at red zone and what you are able to do in the red zone. Some of the overall red zone numbers can be a bit skewed, but when you look at it are you holding people to field goals? Are you limiting the amount of touchdowns that are scored in the red zone? When you get into the auxiliary things, which are huge numbers, we talk about double positives all the time. The turnover margin and explosive plays, you want to win those two categories.”
Wommack said when a team wins the turnover margin and explosive plays, the winning percentage is 87 percent.
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“For us on defense, taking the ball away is a huge opportunity for us,” he said.
“It is a huge point of emphasis. When you can take the ball away from people every single opportunity on the field, it is looked at through a different lens. We’ve talked to our players about every single play is an opportunity for 11 people to create a takeaway. Not get a tackle, not get a pass breakup, not get a sack, but to create takeaways for our defense. At the same time, you want to be mindful of limiting the explosive plays for other teams and none for touchdowns.”
He knows Alabama’s defense will not fully eliminate explosive plays from opponents, but limiting the amount of touchdowns scored is a marquee emphasis for Wommack. We will see how he has the Tide creating turnovers in the upcoming season.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
