Kane Wommack arrived in Tuscaloosa about two and a half years ago now, and throughout his stint with the Tide, he’s established a nationally-recognized defense and produced some very memorable defensive plays.

While fans may like to sit back and reminisce on cornerback Zabien Brown’s end-of-half 99-yard pick-six on last year’s Third Saturday in October against Tennessee, or his game-sealing interception against Georgia in 2024, there have been times when Wommack’s defense has been exposed for its consistent and inherent issues. The hopes are that it will change this year.

Create more pressure

Wommack is not a very blitz-first-oriented defensive coordinator, although that’s something he could certainly excel at if he wanted to. However, he still does extremely well at creating unique defensive looks and blitz stunts.

Whether the coverage suggests blitz or not, if that’s the intention, Wommack can almost certainly get the play to go his way. He needs to use this to his advantage and utilize his creative blitz packages more often, but without overdoing it.

Wommack can’t rely on edge-rusher Yhonzae Pierre to consistently create all the pressure, which is why he brought in transfers on the defensive line in USC’s Devon Thompkins, South Carolina’s Desmond Umeozulu and Oregon’s Terrance Green, but he’ll still need to implement pressure created from linebackers and cornerbacks to ensure defensive success.

If he can consistently do this over the course of the season, then he’ll be able to improve upon the defense that ranked No. 20 nationally in points per game allowed (19.2), and top-15 in yards per game allowed (296.9) and yards per play allowed (4.92).

Force more takeaways

Creating takeaways would be an added benefit of successfully blitzing more often; however, there are still a few nails Wommack could hammer down to improve on the 12 total turnovers that Alabama forced last season, down from 28 in 2024.

Fans know that the Crimson Tide has depth in the secondary; the issue is simply execution, at every level. Whether it’s a dropped interception by the corner or a missed chance at a fumble recovery, Wommack needs to harp down on swarming the ball.

If the defense can collectively attack the ball, locating where it is and who has it at any given moment, then the odds of securing more takeaways would improve immediately. But in the end, the only thing that ever truly matters is execution, whether it’s the players being where they’re supposed to be and doing their job, or simply making a catch or punching the ball out.

Shut the ground down

While the overall defensive averages look pretty decent on paper, when it came to stopping the run last season, Wommack and the Tide struggled, finishing the season outside of the top-30 in rushing defense, allowing 3.74 yards per carry.

Almost four yards per carry adds up, especially against a ground-and-pound style offense or a team like Indiana that had the talent and scheme to exploit Alabama’s defense for as long as it needed to, ultimately recording over 200 rushing yards.

By the time the Hoosiers ended the Crimson Tide’s 2025 run, it allowed opponents to average 126.9 rushing yards per game. The inability to stop the run when it mattered the most was a major contributor to the struggles endured throughout the season.

But as mentioned previously, Wommack went to work in the portal to upgrade the size of the defensive line. However, size alone is not the solution; Wommack and the Tide must seriously work on improving the run defense before the season even gets going.