Everything Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack Said After Thursday's Practice

The Crimson Tide defensive coordinator met with the media after Alabama's second practice of fall camp.

Kane Wommack / Joe Gaither Kane Wommack

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—  Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spoke to the media after the Crimson Tide's Thursday practice. Here's everything he had to say:

Full Transcript- August 1, 2024

On wearing sweatshirts at practice... 

"That's too big of a word for me-- Feng shui. But I have worn it for so long that I think it's just kind of what I naturally do. I think early on I was trying to keep off.. you see a lot of older coaches they get little spots on them and all that stuff. Then I kind of got used to it and now you get a good sweat in and all that stuff, lose a couple pounds as well. I've done it the last three years in Mobile and did it for years before that so it is what it is." 

On how much weight he's lost and if Jeff Allen is keeping him hydrated... 

"I think I lost seven pounds (yesterday) but I'm trying to gain a little back. You want to lose some weight but you want to do it a little bit at a time." 

"It's a full team effort right now (to keep me hydrated)." 

On teaching instincts to the pass rushers... 

"Well I think there's natural instincts that are built into young men, right? And then there's developed. I don't know if instinct is the right word, but they hone in on their skills and they start to have an instinct for the scheme and what we do defensively. 

The way we're structurally built is we want to allow our guys to be able to break on the ball and play with some vision at times. And when you play with instinctive vision, the window start to get really tight. People have a misconception of vision coverage-- that it's all this space out there when really what you're doing is you're taking away the grass and the people that the quarterback is wanting to get the ball to. So our players naturally starting to get a little bit more matchy with some of their coverage when we play some of our vision style coverages and then just having a better feel for our defense. 

You know, if you look at us last season and you look at us in the spring, I didn't think we started particularly well on defense early in games, and then we started to hit our stride as the game went on. We've really encouraged our guys to start playing not on their heels but be the aggressor early and that means playing with some instincts. I think we're seeing that. 

On who's standing out on the edge with pressure... 

"I think you look at pressure a number of different ways. Some of it is just natural-- Can we go four down and be able to create pressure on the quarterback off the edge? We are very focused on takeaways here and creating takeaways, and you create takeaways by creating pressure on the quarterback. There were like 751 takeaways in the NFL last season, and out of those the vast majority of them come from the pressure on the quarterback whether they hit the quarterback, got hands on the quarterback or they were able to put him in an uncomfortable position to where he forced to throw. 

So for us, I think we've got some guys naturally that can do that off the edge. To me, Jah-Marien Latham, LT Overton (and) I've seen a lot out of that Wolf room right now. I think Keanu Koht, Qua Russaw and Quandarrius Robinson are doing some great things. Then you got some younger guys like Yhonzae Pierre that are starting to step up. Keon Keeley off the edge and Jordan Renuad-- I've been pleased with some of the rush that we've been able to create and then naturally our backers and safeties have a lot of instincts in what we call blitz awareness. We look for that whenever we're recruiting players-- Does a guy, a second level player, have great blitz awareness? I think we have that from a couple of our safeties and backers in practice. 

Update on LT Overton who's missed the first two days of practice... 

"He's not feeling well right now but I think we'll have him back in a day or two." 

On Jaylen Mbakwe

I think one of the biggest intangibles about playing the defensive back position is having an edge and just a confidence in the way that you play the game. And anybody that's watched Bak in the last few years of high school, know the way he plays the game. He really carried his team right to a state championship. I've been so impressed with just his level of confidence, not really playing the position day in and day out in high school. But the strides that he's made from spring ball to where he is right now, I would argue that he's made as many strides as anybody in our defense.

On Keon Saab

Keon has a very special talent. Obviously, he had some tremendous production at Michigan — won a national championship there. And we were very fortunate to be able to have that production and that experience, because experience is finite, right? And so for us, I think he has done a really good job of leaning into our scheme, what we do. I thought from day one, week one, he did a really great job of going the extra mile to get the verbiage and the terminology down so that he could go execute and play at a high level. And now you see him starting to lead on the back end — him and Malachi Moore. I think those guys are doing a tremendous job of communication on the back.

On the depth at ILB

I think one of the things that you look at for great leadership is to bring the people underneath you to the level that you think they are capable of and that you set that example. And I think Deontae and Jihaad have done a tremendous job of that. I think Justin Jefferson had an unbelievable spring. And I think he's had an even better summer and really going into fall camp. I would say Justin Jefferson is right there with those other two guys. I think we have three starter type linebackers from that position. So very impressed with him. It's kind of one of those classic cases right? You get a guy from junior college, that first year sometimes the learning curve is a little bit challenging, right? And then all of a sudden, a year later, right, they're showing tremendous production. And obviously he's a very gifted athlete. But I've been impressed with some of those younger guys as well. You know, I think Jeremiah Alexander is starting to take steps forward in the right direction. You know, he's played that played the jack position in the last couple years and making that transition to inside linebacker — those are two different worlds, right? You can't just sit there and say, ‘Well, I'm gonna move this guy from here to here.’ You got to rep that, you got to work that. And then I've been very impressed with with J.O. — Justin Okoronkwo, excuse me, and that's a hard one. I had to work with it in front of the mirror a couple of times. But been really impressed with some of the things he’s been doing as well.

On the spring portal additions in the secondary and DaShawn Jones

Again, we talked about how experience is finite, right? So if you can find it somewhere, it obviously is great to have on your roster. I think Da-Da is doing a really great job. You know, he has really changed his body. You think about seniors and guys that are maybe a little further down in their career that may not be able to push quite as far as the development of a freshman, but I thought he's made tremendous strides in eight weeks in terms of changing the makeup of his body. I think he's playing very fast right now. He seems to be playing with confidence in the first couple of days. Again, time will tell of those guys that have not played in the SEC the last couple of years across the board, whether they can handle those things but I think they are taking steps in the right direction against what I would argue some some very good skill players on our offensive side right now.

On if this defense opens things up for DTs to pass rush

“I think schematically, everyone has a personality. And our personality in this defense over the last few years is to create pressure. And pressure allows you to create takeaways. 

“And we are a defense that wants to have production from the defensive line room. We’re not going to be a stagnant, eat-up-blocks style of defense. At times, do we have to take on blocks? Absolutely. We’re going to take on double-teams, and here that means 700 pounds that you’re dealing with. But there are times that we’re going to create movement, we’re going to create pressure, we’re going to get our best pass rushers matched up one-on-one against their weakest links.

“That to me is are the creative things we’ve always hung our hat on of being able to find the weakest link on offense and being able to expose that through one-on-one matchups, sometimes with the defensive linemen.”

On having Jehiem Oats back

“It’s exciting to see Jehiem. Jehiem is from right down the road where I grew up. He’s from Columbia, Mississippi. I grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, so I’ve known Jehiem for a long time. 

“Very pleased with the way he’s taken care of his body in the offseason. Jehiem was maybe 415 pounds when he got here as a freshman. And think about how easy that would have been for him to climb the ladder back up the wrong way when you’re injured and you’re not going through all the workouts and [you have] some of the mobility issues. I think he did a tremendous job of taking care of his body. He stayed in the weight room. He stayed in the meeting rooms learning our defense. And so far, I have seen him pick things up very quickly.

On who is standing out at the cornerback position

“To me, right off the bat, Domani Jackson, Zabien Brown have been really impressive. Again, if you look at Jaylen Mbakwe, he’s probably made the greatest strides over the last six months. Then I would say all three of those freshmen — Zabien Brown, Jaylen Mbakwe and then Zavier Mincey — I think are taking steps in the right direction. And of course, Day Day [DaShawn Jones], great to have him in there for us.”

Where has Montgomery’s James Smith grown in the defensive line

“Well, James is very talented, and he does a tremendous job of when he gets a one-on-one matchup he takes advantage of it. His encouragement has been to continue to lean into the consistency of our scheme. You have to be able to play within the framework of the defense. Those are the things that I think we are seeing that he’s making strides from where he was in the spring time to where he is right now. But again, consistency has to be proven over a long period of time, and so that has yet to be seen.”