Kane Wommack said last season’s Alabama defense didn’t play to his expectations.
Still, the marked improvement didn’t go unnoticed by the Alabama defensive coordinator, who plans to build on that next season.
“Not nearly the standard,” Wommack told me Tuesday during an appearance on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 in Mobile about last year’s defense. “We’ve got to find a way to improve. Really excited coming out of spring about where we are.”
“I’m really proud of the strides we made defensively,” he said of last season. “When we got here because of a number of factors and transfer portal, when you have a transition from coach (Nick) Saban retiring and all of that, we lacked depth and a little bit of experience overall on the back end.”
That will change next season. Wommack cited Zabien Brown, a guy he described as a true freshman with the most discipline and skill set I’ve ever seen as a high school player." He now calls him a “seasoned veteran.”
“It’s different from the standpoint of experience,” he explained. “We have guys who have grown up, and they’ve grown up fast.”
Part of the reason for the depth, Wommack said, is the ability of Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer to navigate the transfer portal, while retaining his players.
“I think Kalen does a tremendous job,” Wommack said. “He’s very proactive. He’s very engaging. He’s very relational with people. He understands the business side of this game, but he also keeps the main thing the main thing. We are trying to bring out the best in these young men to maximize their opportunities as individuals and our opportunities as a team. Those things go hand in hand.
“People think you either got to go get yours, right? Or you can sacrifice for the team. The truth is high tides raise all boats. For us, keeping that mindset for these players - of course, everybody wants our starters - but they want our twos and our threes, as well. I think Kalen has done a really tremendous job of managing that to getting these guys to buy into this team and how that helps them as individuals.”
