Kane Wommack on improving frames of Alabama’s D-Line: ‘Mass kicks ass’

Nov 22, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack yells to his defense during the game with Eastern Illinois at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images

Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said on Friday that he felt like Alabama got moved around too much last year, and the team is doing something to fix it in 2026.

Wommack is intentional with the things he says and does, and improving the frames of Alabama defensive linemen is something he knew the team needed in order to be the ones moving people around on Saturdays.

“I think we have improved our physicality up front,” Wommack said. “I think we’ve improved in our consistency as a defensive line unit. And we’ve gotten bigger. The last two years here we’ve been 14th in the SEC in D-line frames up front. I think this year, we’re fourth or fifth. We’ve worked really hard to get ourselves back in a position where we can be a big, physical defensive line.”

Wommack and the Alabama defensive staff did a study to see where the Crimson Tide’s defensive linemen ranked in the SEC in terms of weight and length, and he found that Alabama ranked in the lower portion of the conference. This resulted in Wommack and the rest of the staff adding size from the portal but also working with returning defensive linemen to put pounds of muscle on them this offseason.

“Big bodies matter. Mass kicks ass,” Wommack said. “When you have big frames that have length and being able to strike people, but also when they’re getting a double team, just sheer mass matters. The truth is, we got moved around some the last two years here.”

When looking at the Crimson Tide’s updated roster, Alabama lists six defensive linemen at 300 pounds or more and twelve defensive linemen at 6-foot-4 and up.

The transfer portal gave Alabama an opportunity to add size, and the Crimson Tide brought in 300-pound guys like Terrance Green from Oregon, Kendrick Bingley-Jones from Mississippi State and Devan Thompkins from USC for example. On top of that, returning players like Jeremiah Beamen, Steve Bolo Mboumoua and London Simmons are over the 300-pound mark and are working to get ready to play some very important snaps this season.

Only time will tell if the Crimson Tide’s defense will be moving people around or the ones being moved.