What Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack Said Ahead of LSU Road Trip

How will the Crimson Tide's defense follow up their shutout performance against Missouri?

Kane Wommack / Joe Gaither Screensho

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spent time in the Naylor Stone Media Suite in the Mal Moore Athletic Facility on Monday as the Crimson Tide got back to a regular game week schedule. Alabama will head to LSU to take on the Tigers in Baton Rouge in what appears as a College Football Playoff elimination game.

Below you'll find a full transcript from Wommack's time at the podium.

Opening Statement:

"Looking back on the bye week, you always want to do a review of where you are, the things you need to improve and the things you're doing well. Coming out of the Missouri game there were things that (show) we're taking steps in the right direction. I think our players have a real emphasis to take the ball off of people right now. I think we've gotten 10 takeaways in the last three games, which is really encouraging. I'm seeing an emphasis on that from our coaches and players in practice, and those things are showing up on game day. Limiting explosive plays, certainly we were able to do that (against Missouri). We have up four explosives, and really, three of those four were in the last series of the game when we had some young guys in who gave up some explosive runs, so we certainly have got to get those things cleaned up. That was not nearly to the standard. We were fortunate to get a fourth-down stop there at the end with some older guys who have a lot of pride and wanted to get back in the game.

"Then we had 15 explosives as an offense. Third downs, that's been an area where we've been deficient in. I think we're taking steps in the right direction there, some things we're doing fundamentally, some things we're doing schematically, just making tweaks so we can give our players the best chance to get people off the field and give the ball back to our offense. Looking into the bye week, those were things we were able to do and kind of build off of from a momentum standpoint. I like the demeanor of our players right now. I think they're in a really good position. I think they're very hungry to get back out on the field. Some of them have done a tremendous job getting their bodies healthy, getting their bodies back. Our training staff is the best in the country, the best I've ever been around. Credit to our players and training staff for having that sense of urgency in the bye week to get ourselves in as healthy a position as we can heading into the last four games of the regular season and beyond.

"Looking ahead to LSU, this is a very explosive football team, a lot of athletes on the field. I think coach Kelly is, his resume speaks for itself and the success he's had at multiple places and the way he manages his football team. I have a lot of respect for Joe Sloan, their offensive coordinator, I've known for a number of years. He's really done a great job wherever he's been. Frank Wilson was my position coach at one time in college. A number of their guys on the offensive staff I think do a really good job. From an offensive standpoint, you can talk about the quarterback all day long. I think Nussmeier, he's a coach's kid, you can tell he's been very well trained. Knows where to go with the ball. Has great answers, is probably to me up there with the Carson Becks of the world in terms of his ability to see the field and make great decisions. He's as good as we've seen this year. Aggressive with the ball. I know sometimes that's gotten him in trouble, but it's also created a lot of explosive plays that they've been able to make because he's aggressive. Certainly, he's got players on the perimeter and in their tight end room who will go up and get the football. Even if guys are covered, he's going to throw the ball, and so we're going to have to make plays on contested catches and do a great job against an explosive team with a great quarterback in an awesome system in one of the great environments in college football.  It'll be a great challenge, one I'm certain our players are looking forward to on Saturday."

ON WHAT HAS CREATED DEFENSIVE MOMENTUM

"I think the answer is probably yes, in a number of facets. I think our guys, there is certainly going to be a learning curve in some of the things guys are understanding our system on a more dynamic level and recognizing when to takes chances and when not to take chances. That's a big piece of it. You've got some guys who have experience, and maybe they have experience in different systems, and you have guys who have little experience, and they're starting to grow and learn. So I like where we're headed. I think we're in a position to be able to continue to improve defensively and get better as the season goes on. I told our players the other day - look at college football right now. It's hard for everybody. Winning is hard in the SEC. It always has been, but I would argue now more than ever. Finding ways to get better as a football team ultimately is going to make a difference in the last part of the season here in terms of who is considered a successful football team. I think we're trending in the right direction there, but there's a long way to go in some areas."

On what he sees in Kyren Lacy and how to contain him…

“I remember Kyren when he was in the Sun Belt. He was playing at Louisiana my first year as head coach at South Alabama, and I think he transferred maybe the year after in 2022. You know, long physical presence. Does a great job with the ball in the air. I think he makes contested catches. I think he's grown so much as a route runner. And really, you know someone that you can tell that Nussmeier really trusts to get the ball to, even in situations where he’s got body on body to go make a play for him. So very impressed with his skillset. I mean, he’s got all the tools and can run and make contested catches and the makings of a great receiver.”

On Jordan Renaud…

“I’m excited about Jordan Renaud. There’s a number of young guys that I’m excited about, but that’s certainly one to point towards. I think Jordan is continuing to grow in our defense and in understanding what to do. We talk about those things, right? Knowing when to take chances, when to take risks, all that goes on on the back end, that goes up front. And then just doing your job at a more consistent level than maybe he was at the beginning of the season. 

“I mean, credit him. You’ve got two players in Jah-Marien Latham and LT Overton that are playing good football right now. So for him to elevate his game to be in the conversation and find ways for us to have to find ways to get him on the field, I think speaks to who he is and the work that he's put in. But also, I think dude's got a really bright future.”

How to carry the momentum over from shutout…

“I think one of the cool things about that shutout was the way in which it was done. Our older players, we were literally having to hold them back in that last drive to not, you know, want to go out on the field and preserve a shutout. I think that's awesome when a group of defensive players have pride in wanting to get stops, and you know, certainly they've gone through adverse situations. We have as a team, we have as a defense. But knowing that at the end of the day, it's not OK to give up touchdowns. It's not OK, you know what I mean, at any point right to to give up scores and yards and all those things. 

“And so I thought that was a great momentum builder for our players to know, hey, you know one, we were able to get a shutout. We were able to get the stop. But also, I thought it was a real opportunity for some older players and coaches to be able to demand the standard out of some younger players that we are going to have to count on as the season goes. We've already counted on some of those players due to injuries. So I think certainly, anytime you can get a shutout, especially in the SEC, I think you can build off of that moment.”

On what he can learn from Texas A&M’s win over LSU…

“Well, I think A&M, they do a great job on defense. I mean, schematically, they’re really good. Their personnel up front is as good as I've seen. I mean, those guys do a really good job in one-on-one matchups. And I thought they did a great job of finding and creating one-on-one matchups based off of how they situated their personnel and were able to win a number of those one-on-ones. And so that’ll be the challenge for us. 

“I thought they did some really good things that you can look at and say, ‘How does that fit what we do?’ And then kind of build off from there. And then you kind of take little pieces from everybody. I thought Ole Miss played them really well for the vast majority of the game, and then just couldn't seem to get off the field at the end. I think having both personnel groupings based off of the groupings that they have on the field. They’ve got a lot of different things that they do out of their personnels with 12 and different tight end groupings that come on the field. And then also things from a scheme standpoint to be able to have answers against a very prolific offense. I think it's going to be critical.”

How Qua Russaw has cemented himself as a Wolf linebacker…

“The Wolf is a really dynamic position. You ask a lot out of really kind of both the edge player to the field and into the boundary the Husky, the nickel position for us, in terms of what they do from a coverage perspective but fitting in the box and blitzing off the edge and playing different man and zone oriented coverage. And then to the boundary, right, that Wolf position. I mean, you're asking that guy to play a five technique and a nine technique, to be able to slant down inside and into the interior B gaps or A gaps, to fold back inside and run fit at times, to drop out in coverage, to cover backs and tight ends out of the backfield. So it’s a very dynamic skillset. 

“Qua is strong at the point of attack. He’s got enough athleticism to be able to make space tackles. And so really he has all the physical traits for a good Wolf, but more so the guy has really taken ownership in terms of what to do schematically and how he fits within the framework of the defense. And I think he's really probably taken a lot of steps in terms of growth to answer Nick’s question earlier there about players that are growing within the framework of what we're doing defensively. You could certainly point to Qua Russaw taking steps in the right direction."

FAKING INJURIES AND THE ORDER FROM THE LEAGUE?

"To me, ultimately, when you're in a situation where you are hurt in a game and you have to go down, you can't come off the field. These offenses are going too fast. They're watching your sideline. They're aware of if all of a sudden you try to make a personnel change when you don't have the iron cross by the officials. I think the rule is still the rule, but you have some of these instances that they are maybe trying to crack down on. Ultimately, it doesn't really change what we're telling our guys. Our guys need to understand if they're hurt in a game, never come off the field. You always have to go down in that situation so we can make the proper substitution for that player. "

IN WHAT WAYS CAN THE DEFENSE LIMIT NUSSMEIER:

"I think he's an aggressive player, right? Sometimes you live by the sword and die by the sword a little bit. We're a team that is certainly going to be focused on taking the ball off of people. We've got to be able to show enough looks and pictures and change some things up. Put eyes on the quarterback. Play man coverage. Do all the different things to be able to create some confusion we've been able to create with some really good quarterbacks. We were able to do that, even looking back to Carson Beck who's a great quarterback and has had a hard time ... Hasn't turned the ball over very much. If you can find creative ways to give them different looks and pictures, you're going to give yourself an opportunity to take the ball away. At the same time, this dude has made a lot of plays being the guy he is. He's an aggressive player. Think about...  Brett Favre threw a lot of picks in his career, but he also made a hell of a lot of plays. This guy has really done some similar things in that regard. Some of that you live with a little bit as an offense, but from a defensive perspective, we need to make sure ... Taking the ball off people is really the identity of who we are as a defense. That needs to show up on Saturday night. "

THE DEMEANOR WHAT HES SEEING AND FROM WHO?

"For me, I think our players have learned from the experiences they've had this season. There is a sense of urgency to get better every single day and not waste reps in practice. So for our guys, to have that understanding of, OK, I did this early in the season in practice and this showed up on gameday, be it from a positive standpoint or from an area where we have to get better. I think our players are drawing upon those positive and negative experiences to have better practice habits. I think some of those practice habits are showing up on game day. Our coaches are doing a really good job of pointing those things out that ultimately you're going to get rewarded by what you put out on the field. I saw a quote the other day, something about "The success that you want is in the work that you are avoiding." The work that you are willing to put in is going to reap the result of success that ultimately you want. Are players willing to do that day in and day out when it gets hard at the end of the season? I think right now our guys have a really good demeanor about that."

HOW TOUGH IS IT TO DEFEND LSU WITH TIGHT END MASON TAYLOR?

"I think he's as good of a tight end as we've seen this year. I think you can tell their quarterback trusts him. Another guy, when the game is on the line, he continues to show up in those big moments. He will make contested coaches. Just even being body on body, the guy can make those contested type throw and catch. Which is ultimately what's hard about covering a tight end. You've got some 6-6 guy you're covering with a linebacker or defensive back that ultimately, a good quarterback is going to throw away from leverage, and he's going to be able to come down with the ball. I think the dude takes pride in not coming off the field. You can tell that's kind of a thing. They constantly are keeping him on the field and having different groupings and packages around him. Tight ends man, when you have a good tight end that can do things in the run game well enough and then ultimately be dynamic in the passing game, that's why those guys are so valuable in the professional league right now. They're rare but they're really hard to defend for a number of reasons. We'll have our work cut out for us."