'Gamer': New Alabama Safety King Mack Impressing Ahead of Regular Season

One of Alabama's newest players in the defensive backfield has turned heads during his short tenure.

The Crimson Tide football team continued practice Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, as they prepare for the season opener and the first game under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. Alabama defensive back King Mack (5) and Alabama defensive back Kolby Peavy (47) sprint away from each other in a drill. / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— One of several transfers into the Alabama football program this past offseason, safety King Mack, has made his presence felt in the Crimson Tide's defensive backfield with less than two weeks until the regular season starts on Aug. 31.

The Penn State transfer, who has Power Five experience and plenty of remaining eligibility (three years), has earned high marks from teammates and from new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who has been impressed with how Mack has adjusted to his patented "Swarm" defense.

"He's a very fast individual," Wommack said Tuesday. "He seems to be really making plays on the ball. I would say when we go scrimmage-like situations, he tends to elevate his game."

Wommack then seemed to find the word he was looking for: gamer.

"I think he's a very instinctive football player," Wommack said.

Mack's intangibles have also drawn notice from his contemporaries in the secondary. Fellow defensive back DeVonta Smith said he has had pick-sixes in both of the team's fall scrimmages.

"He goes to get the ball," said Smith. "That's what we like about him. He's a very fast guy, very physical. He has very good instincts."

Mack was one of Alabama's summer transfers, committing to the Crimson Tide in May and helping to fill a position of need. Wommack named Mack among players whom he anticipates seeing meaningful snaps throughout the upcoming season, even if he doesn't start right away.

"Young players, again, experience is finite, they have to go through some of those experiences," he said. "But we're going to get those players in, they're going to play in meaningful snaps in games."

Mack played in 13 games during his freshman season in 2023. The bulk of his action was on special teams. However, that apparently hasn't stopped him from becoming a ball-hawking threat as he acclimates to his new team and, like his teammates, gets familiar with a new system.

"You hope, right, that the same King Mack or Red Morgan or Zabien Brown or whoever it may be, is not the same guy at the end of the season," said Wommack. "They continue to elevate their game and grow, and if they do that, we're going to be in an OK position."

See also:

Alabama Adds Elite Running Back to Class of 2025

Why Alabama's Final Preseason Scrimmage was 'Most Physical' Yet

Alabama Football Fall Camp Practice Report: Practice 16