Kane Wommack's 'Keys to Victory' Setting Alabama Defense Up for Success

Each week the Alabama defensive coordinator and his staff present the Crimson Tide defense with specific keys for each game.

Alabama Football Assistant Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Kane Wommack coaches during warmups against LSU at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA on Saturday, Nov 9, 2024. / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Every week, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack presents his defense with the three "keys to victory" for the upcoming game. It can be things like stopping the run, affecting the quarterback, swarm tackling, getting off the field on third down or creating takeaways. It's a practice Wommack started years ago at previous schools but has carried over into his role with the Crimson Tide.

"There’s things that we carry within the Swarm D that are kind of our identity, you know, who we are as a defense," Wommack explained. "And then on top of that, we talk about what are the three things that we have to do to win this game specifically."

Wommack and the defensive staff come up with the keys to victory on Monday, present to the players before the first day of practice on Tuesday and then review each Sunday after a game to see if the players hit the markers or not.

"Some of those things are tangible things that we ask our guys to do in terms of maybe stopping the run with a certain number or third-down efficiency or whatever it may be," Wommack said. "But other things like affecting the quarterback, you can point to certain tangible things but also, did we put him in a position to where the quarterback played at a more uncomfortable level than what he normally plays?"

Alabama captain and fifth-year defensive back Malachi Moore said the keys to victory help form the right mindset for guys going into practice each week.

"Not just going through the motions, it kind of gives you a sense of what you have to work on that week," Moore said. "Like you said, when you come back on Sunday and you look back at the game— did you do it? Or did you not do it? So I think that’s a great thing for him to introduce to us at the beginning of the week and we work on it all throughout the week and then see how well we go out there and execute it on Saturday.”

For example, against LSU, two of the keys were stopping the run and affecting the quarterback. Alabama held the Tigers to 104 rushing yards and forced LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier into three sacks and two turnovers.

"Those things come from the meeting room to the field," Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell said. "All those things come from creating great habits for ourselves. Understanding what’s the task and understanding we have to have a killer instinct." 

The coaches are able to point to specific things on Sundays in film review before the players flush it and move on to the new opponent and week. The keys to victory have really started to pay off for the Alabama defense as the Crimson Tide has had three of its best performance of the season over the last three games. Alabama now ranks 10th in the country in scoring defense at just 16.9 points per game.

"Our staff and coaches do a great job of preparation and preparing us," Alabama defensive back Zabien Brown said. "They just put us in a position to make plays.”

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