As the Kalen DeBoer era kicks off in Tuscaloosa on Saturday against Western Kentucky, there will be plenty of new faces for Alabama fans to get used to. One position Alabama faithful have been used to seeing change at is the defensive coordinator position.
Kane Wommack, who spent the last three seasons at South Alabama, is the Crimson Tide’s third defensive coordinator since 2022. (Pete Golding in 2022 and Kevin Steele 2023) The style of defense Wommack employs is a Swarm defense that is in a 4-2-5 alignment, differing from the 3-4 defense Saban employed since his first season at Alabama in 2007.
Alabama fans will get to new personnel groupings and positions like the Bandit, Husky, Sting, Mike, Wolf, and Rover.
With all these changes what does Wommack need to do to impress?
#1 Attacking The Quarterback
Alabama fans, see the Wolf position, or what Dallas Turner occupied last season and anticipate redshirt-senior Que Robinson should own the role this season. While no one distinguished themselves in the role during spring and summer camps, expect Wommack to employ a committee at the Wolf that will be led by Robinson.
#2 Creating Turnovers
Wommack’s defense at South Alabama was ranked No. 26 nationally with 22 turnovers. It is a very opportunistic defense that looks to create turnovers from pressure. “I think you look at pressure a number of different ways, right?” Wommack asked. “Some of it is just natural, can we go four-down and be able to create pressure on the quarterback off the edge. And we are very focused on takeaways here, and creating takeaways. And you create takeaways by creating pressure on the quarterback.”
#3 Coming Up Big In Crunch Time.
One of Saban’s signatures during his hall of fame career was the numerous times the Crimson Tide defense made the critical stop that kept momentum with the Crimson Tide. Expect Wommack’s defense to do the same as well. South Florida ranked 18th national with a 71.4% stop rate and 27th nationally in third down defense at 34.1%.
