Times have changed since the last time Alabama was lead by a defensive juggernaut. Although those days are surely behind the program, and college football for that matter, the Crimson Tide defense could be the unit that leads the charge during the early portion of the season at the very least.
Simply approaching things from a leadership standpoint, the Alabama defense clearly has the upper hand and head coach Kalen DeBoer didn’t necessarily hide it.
When asked at the beginning of camp which players were setting the tone at practice, DeBoer immediately rattled off several defensive players without hesitation before getting around to name dropping Ryan Coleman-Williams. That right there doesn’t appear to be a mistake.
Even when conducting a quick assessment of both groups it’s clear where the experience, continuity and talent lies currently.
Alabama’s secondary alone which includes Bray Hubbard, Zabien Brown, Dijon Lee and Keon Sabb may not just be the top unit on the team, but perhaps the best secondary in all of college football. That alone sets the defense apart from the other side of the coin.
Then taking into account what the Crimson Tide have in the front seven. Jah-Marien Latham, Yhonzae Pierre, Devan Thompkins, Terrance Green and London Simmons all bring strong or elite experience to the table.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has also proven to be one of the rising coordinators in college football. Wommack took a defense that was ranked 7th in the SEC in total yards during his first season in 2024 up to 4th in the conference last season. On a national level that was good enough for 14th in the country during a season of strong defenses throughout the nation.
That was all accomplished with DeBoer and Wommack not even having the exact mold of players they would have liked to have.
This offseason, Alabama has made it a point to get bigger on the defensive front as it was “moved around” too much for Wommack’s liking last season. This has led the addition of players like Thompkins to add more size and strength to bolster its run defense.
This however is not to say that the Crimson Tide’s offense will struggle early on, but growing pains may be inevitable.
Even looking at last season with Ty Simpson who turned out to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country, the unit tripped on itself early against Florida State and needed time to solidify. Now Alabama could only hope for as easy a handoff at quarterback with whoever wins out from the battle between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack.
But no matter who is under center, major question marks remain along the offensive line.
With new coach Adrian Klemm and Michael Carroll who is the sole returning starter (and is also changing positions), the group still has a great deal to prove when it comes to running the ball as it finished dead last in the SEC in production.
All in all, it boils down to the defense having far more answers than the flip side of the ball.
But as Wommack has his unit combating the other team’s firepower, Alabama will need to get it’s own up to speed and quickly if it wants to make a deeper run into the College Football Playoff.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
