Everything Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack Said To Open Tennessee Week

The Crimson Tide defensive coordinator spent time with the media before this weekend's rivalry game.

Kane Wommack press conference- Oct, 7, 2024 / BamaCentral

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spent time in the Naylor Stone Media room inside the Mal Moore Athletic Facility on Monday. Wommack wrapped up Alabama's game against South Carolina and set up the Crimson Tide's trip to Knoxville.

Full Transcript of Kane Wommack's Monday Press Conference

Opening Statement

"From a chance defensively to be explosive, we had 13 game changers. Twelve was our goal-- four takeaways, four sacks, three 3-and-outs, and then two 4th down stops, including a missed field goal. From what we call the double positives: the explosive plays given up and then the turnover margin, we had nine explosives on offense, gave up five on defense. We gave up one explosive run and four passes and then obviously won the turnover margin by plus two. So that really being the key to the game, as much as anything from a defensive perspective, is when you when you can take the ball away from somebody four different times. That's certainly going to make it hard to be able to navigate against. 

"I thought, as the game went on they had some really good wrinkles. I thought we adjusted pretty well to some of those things they were doing, some different run game out of 12 personnel that they had not shown. Dowell Loggains, their offensive coordinators always done a tremendous job, had some different wrinkles that they were doing. I thought we adjusted to that pretty well on the fly. Credit our defensive staff and our players for making those adjustments, and it gave us a chance to get off the field on third down. In the second half we did not do that nearly to the consistency that I think that we are capable of, or that we need to be in order to be a consistent defense. You know we started out the first half went 5-0 on third down, got off the field and then gave up a fourth and nine which is just obviously an unacceptable play and an error on our part a from an execution standpoint. And then we started off the second half going 0-5 on third down, and then came back and went 3-5 in the last five third downs. So that continues to be an area where we are not operating at an optimal level. If we want to be the defense I think we are capable of being, we have to execute at a more consistent level on third down. 

"When you look at it, there certainly were some challenging things that USC presented for us, but particularly on third down there was a lack of execution on our part. Not putting our eyes in the right place, doing our job at a consistent level. So those are things that we've got to continue to do, and that's not just in pass coverage. Some of it was in pass rush. I do think we took some steps in the right direction from a pass rush standpoint where we were able to generate pressure on the quarterback. I think that's part of why we were able to get takeaways in the game. We were able to get sacks in the game, but we're still not optimizing our ability to rush as a unit on a consistent basis and then play coverage on a consistent basis on third down, and particularly in fourth down. So those are certainly the areas that we've got to emphasize as we moving forward. 

"As we navigate ourselves moving forward into playing Tennessee, I think Josh Heupel has just done a fantastic job over the last few years with their program. I think they have continued to improve the overall talent level of their roster. I think they are playing with more depth as a football team. And then there's a number of explosive playmakers that they can get the ball to. I think their running back (Dylan Sampson) is elite. What he's been able to do, I think he's dynamic with the ball in his hand. He's got really good patience in the run schemes. He will make guys miss at the point of contact, constantly creating yards after contact as well. And then there's some very explosive athletes on the outside when they've been able to get the ball out there to them. They've had tremendous success on offense, and that's something that.. they're a team that on any given down can create an explosive play. So that's something that we're going to have to be very mindful of. We're going to have to be very thorough as a defense. I think ultimately it's going to be about our consistency, doing the same high level job over and over again in order to play at an optimal level on Saturday. So looking forward to the competition, looking forward to going to Neyland Stadium, and we're going to have a great, great week of practice and preparation to get ready. 

"When you look at the game the other day, pleased to get the win, to be able to fight and battle. The way that our guys were fighting was special, to find a way to come up with an interception to win the game. We've got to do that twice now and those are always rewarding for a defense. They're always special moments, to be able to step up when it matters most, and certainly we were able to do that in the game. I think our guys have an appreciation for finding a way to win. And yet players and coaches alike, there's certainly an urgency to continue to build and grow as a football team so that we can be the team that we feel like we are capable of being as we continue to navigate through SEC play.

On tackling and thought process standing up the ball-carrier to create turnover vs. taking him down

"Yeah, I think a fine line, you know, to answer your second question first. I think there's a fine line there of trying to create takeaways, right? The first man into the ball always needs to make sure that he is securing the tackle. Second man, right, can work to a position to be able to try to get the ball out. More often than not, you see creating a takeaway or a fumble with maybe at the point of attack, usually when a guy gets wrapped up he starts to secure the ball at a little bit higher level. That's not always the case. Sometimes with a quarterback or somebody trying to work to get out of the pocket, you know, from a quarterback in the pocket standpoint. But for us, I think, you know, we've got to continue to harp on the fundamentals of how we're tackling.

"When we don't operate with a hard shoulder tackle, all of a sudden we're giving up some yards after contact. I think we have been inconsistent from a tackling standpoint. A lot of that is making sure that we're leveraging the ball properly in vision coverage and that we're driving the ball. So now, you know, there's less space right that we're that we can take away from before the ball, the guy even starts to get going. So I think there's certainly room for improvement there, that's something that you constantly are going to continue to work throughout the season and teams like Tennessee are going to force you to make space tackles over and over again. So it's critical that we continue to improve."

On the use of dime vs. Tennessee

"Well, I think, you know, I think when you look at what this team is, this is a run football team. They are spreading you out with their receiver splits, so that they can establish one-on-ones in the run game, and that they can basically say, you know, they're going to separate the pass coverage from the box responsibility and who's leveraging those play. So for us, based off of the different personnel groupings they have, and based off the formations that they're going to come out in, you know, we're going to have to be able to defend the lateral space and the vertical space on the outside, but also make sure that we're leveraging the box. Because this is a run football team, they want to establish a run, and then they set that up to take shots downfield. So I think for us, you know, you don't want to get too far away from home base — who you are and what you do. But from a personnel package standpoint, we're always going to look at, you know, whatever we think is the optimal scheme and personnel to get our players in the right position."

Does USF preparation help vs. Tennessee?

"Well, I think, you know, you look at a lot of the things that we have to do through the week of preparation. One of the hardest things to do when you're dealing with a team that has non traditional formations and the wide splits and they're going tempo as fast as you've seen from anybody you face, being able to manufacture that in practice every day is the hardest thing you know that we have to do. And so our scout teams have gotten reps at some of those things. We've looked at what worked well that week and what we needed to improve on, just in terms of the look that we had to give. And so that probably, as much as anything, is a help. Certainly, there's things that we put on tape, right, that you know they're going to look at, we're going to look at. But really each game is, even though they're in the same system and it is the same system, what Tennessee is doing versus what South Florida is doing there, there are enough differences there and they have different identities in terms of what they're trying to get accomplished. So certainly, from a from a week of preparation, that'll be something that's that's huge for our scout teams."

When you see the errors execution, does it cause you to pull back on what you'd like to call as the play caller? What do you think about the value of just simplicity versus throwing a bunch of wrinkles at the other team?

"That’s ultimately the give-and-take that we're trying to look at every single week. What can we execute at a high level and do it consistently and yet still have enough wrinkles that we're not a vanilla defense that the teams feel like, ‘Okay, they're able to lock in and attack.’ I think early on we showed a few different things to set some things up as we navigated into SEC play, so now we've started to show more of those wrinkles. We were able to show a lot more this past week from the standpoint of some pressures and some little nuances and change-ups that we had not shown before, and we'll keep throwing some of those wrinkles in as we go. That's one of the things that are an advantage as a first-year defense, right? There's always going to be some wrinkles and things that you go and throw in. I felt like in the game, you want to make sure that you are simple enough, so that our players can go execute as that's constantly the battle that we're looking at. ‘Okay, what are we doing on third down and fourth down that we didn't execute well enough?’ Well, if it's an execution issue, is it something that we can call differently, we limit some of the things that we're calling, we get really good at this, or we're going to manufacture some pressure through something else from a scheme perspective. I don't mean to be too vague, but also don't want to give away the house there, but I think there's a fine line there of what we need to be able to do. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what we call. If we can't execute it consistently, we're going to have a problem. Some of that is just the growing pains of a new defense in Year 1, and that we're going to have to continue to work through. So you can't sit there and throw the baby out with the bathwater sort of speak, where all of a sudden now you're saying, ‘Hey, I'm going to get rid of this call that's been very beneficial for us over the years, and we're going to get rid of it because we didn't execute it well enough in Weeks 2-4, when in Weeks 6-8 if we'll just continue to stay in our process, I think those things will come to fruition."

What did you learn about your depth at cornerback when Domani Jackson was out for a little bit against South Carolina (young players were rotating in)? How vital is Domani’s experience at that position?

"Domani’s experience has shown up in a number of ways, and he’s stepped up in some big moments, obviously, having the interception at the end of the game. Credit him for coming back from getting banged up in the game and to be able to fight back. I think Domani is operating with a lot of maturity, a lot of mental toughness, and then he has really helped set the tone for that room along with [defensive backs coach Maurice] Linguist, who is doing a tremendous job with those young players and in building continuity in their technique and their fundamentals so that they can go out and execute to the highest level of their ability on game day. When a couple of guys go down and those guys have to be called upon, you know you're either ready or you're not right. And so for those guys, I thought it was good for them to get in there, to get some meaningful quality reps. I think Jaylen Mbakwe stepped up in some really big moments as well. I’m encouraged to see some of that youth gain experience in meaningful SEC games."

What happened on the fourth down busted coverage?

"Often what happens in coverage is a domino effect of one player doesn't do something, so another player gets ready to compensate for it. Then all of a sudden you may have taken away their first or second read. But ultimately, if you give the quarterback time, we're going to have an issue. Doing our job, our 1/11th of the defense is critical. That's something that we keep harping on to our players. Make sure you're focused on your responsibility and your job within the framework of the defense. Trust that everyone else is going to do their job as well. So we had a breakdown in terms of playing over top of a route we should have been expanding on in that particular coverage. But there were other pieces that did not help in terms of being where they needed to be at the beginning of the play so that we can leverage things out properly in terms of our spacing and that coverage. Again, I think our pass rush has taken some really great steps. But also when you're not getting pressure and you're giving time for those long developing plays on third down, that makes it challenging as well. A little bit across the board. You've got to continue to operate with consistency. That's all 11 guys doing their job where often in those moments something's going to break down."

What has been the adjustment to the shovel pass?

"I think that particular play, we've seen probably Tebow and those guys at Florida were one of the first ones who started doing that. The late 2000s. It's kind of been sprinkled in. When teams sprinkle it in just here and there, it's really challenging for your guys who are up front in terms of eye progression. You're getting an action at you that looks like sprint out for a quarterback or option for a quarterback. Then all of sudden, they're pitching the ball back underneath behind us to pursue. You've got to be very disciplined and very detailed in doing that. And your backside pursuit has to be able to fit and get back overtop. It's a challenging play. It's a really good wrinkle. It's one we're probably going to continue to see every single week. We're looking at the different ways they can do those plays and run those things so we can be prepared. Nobody is going to do it exactly the same way necessarily, but they're going to have their own nuance. It's a hard play that we've got to get prepared for."

Qua Russaw's development....

"Qua, he was getting healthy the last couple of weeks here. He's gotten himself into a position to where I think he's healthy and back and ready to go. We had him on a little bit of a pitch count as we were working through the last couple weeks. I feel like he's in a really good position moving forward. I think he continues to do some really good things on film. So excited about his full week of preparation of being a little more 100%. I don't know if anybody is ever 100% as you go through the season. But healthier than he was the last couple of weeks. I have been pleased with some of the things he has been doing when he does get in the games. I think he has a chance to create some impact in meaningful moments.