Alabama's Defense In a 'Great Place' Entering Kane Wommack Second Season

- The Alabama football program opens year two under head coach Kalen DeBoer on the road in Tallahassee this Saturday with the weight of an underwhelming 2024 season looming over the program. Offensive question marks at quarterback and along the offensive line add to that weight, but the scales tip in the other direction for the Crimson Tide on the defensive side of the ball as the program fields a unit with nine players that saw extensive playing time last year.

The returning starters are aided by emerging talent and quality depth pieces throughout all three levels of the Kane Wommack 4-2-5 defense, making Alabama's defense one of the most vaunted units in all of college footbll entering the 2025 season.

"Well, I know a lot more of the variables," Wommack said. "I know our coaches better. We understand each other better, right? There's a gel that has to take place in the coaching staff, and I feel like we're in as great of a place as I've been. I think we're a close knit group on defense as a coaching staff, I think our players see that, and I think that's reflected in the work and the energy that you see and feel at practice defensively. I think understanding our players better gives us as a defensive staff the best opportunity to put them in the right positions. And so we understand ourselves better.

"We understand our players better, and then, certainly, from an opponent's standpoint, if you look at the majority of the season, there's a lot of common opponents — this one, not necessarily so, but I think there's similarities in some of the things that we feel like we're going to see throughout the year that just a better understanding and grasp of what we're doing. So those are the fun things about going into year two and being prepared and kind of having that gel and understanding. You feel that team chemistry right now, defensively."

The Crimson Tide depth is evident along the defensive front and in the secondary, giving Wommack the ability to match and manipulate offenses by adjusting personnel packages.

“When you look at the experience that we have and some of the things we feel like we can put ourselves in the best chance, personnel-wise, to get the right people on the field at the right time, year two allows you to to be able do some more things, certainly," Wommack said. "There are some things we will have geared up and prepared for, not necessarily maybe anything new that we didn’t show last season, just being able to expand off of those packages is probably the biggest advantage you have in year two we didn’t have in year one.”

The Crimson Tide defense enters its second year under Wommack needing to stifle Gus Malzahn's offense in Tallahassee to allow the Alabama offense time to get its footing in a dangerous road environment. The program's depth and Wommack's creativity gives the team a solid chance to do just that.