What Kane Wommack Said About Alabama's Defense Against Tennessee, Looking Ahead to Missouri

Full transcript and press conference video from the Crimson Tide defensive coordinator recapping the Tennessee loss and discussing what's next for the Alabama defense.

10/16/24 MFB Practice 2 Tenn week Alabama Football Assistant Coach (Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) Kane Wommack Alabama Linebacker Jihaad Campbell (11) / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama's coaches met with the media Monday morning to discuss the team's loss to Tennessee and look ahead to this Saturday's homecoming matchup with Missouri.

Here's everything Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack had to say:

Full Transcript

Opening statement:

"Disappointing to come away with a loss with a group of guys that played very hard, very physical in the game. Left it all out there on the field. We asked a lot of our experienced players, asked a lot of some young players that had to step up in some big moments and I thought our players played extremely hard. So it's always challenging. The game does not always reward you for your effort, and our guys certainly recognize the reward and consequence of wins and losses and how hard you have to be able to continue to work through adversity. I thought they had a really good mentality, took great ownership-- us as coaches, them as players, together as a football team in terms of identifying the things that we've got to continue to build in consistency so that we can have success in the end and find a way to win. 

"We had 11 game changers: three takeaways, three sacks, 3 three and outs, and then two fourth down stops in the way of missed field goals that that we were able to kind of hold in that high red zone area. I thought we actually stopped the run well outside of three explosive plays. So you look up, obviously the yardage is not what we want. But you look at how they got those yards, it wasn't seven, eight yards a carry, it was three explosive plays given up. One of them, obviously being a quarterback scramble. One of them, we were able to create a takeaway on and then a misfit and miss leverage to where we let a guy outside and they were able to hit a 35 yard chunk on us. So those are things that have to continue to work to get cleaned up. I think that's some of the consistency and execution that we have to continue to provide and build that we're not there yet, and those explosives, obviously are costly for us. Discipline to do your job over and over again is the key, especially against a team like that that can create explosive plays. I thought there were a lot of great things to point to but ultimately, you look at it, our goal of the week was 12 game changers. We got 11. I kind of felt like that was the game we ultimately needed one more stop, when you needed one more play from a defensive perspective in order to win the game and we came up short. Those are hard things to deal with as a team but our players, I think, are ready to go to work and to respond. And some young players that have stepped up last week and are going to be asked to step up moving forward as well. 

"And so I think they're all ready for the challenge. I talked to the players yesterday, al that should be on our minds is what do we have to do to beat Missouri on Saturday? And anything outside of that is a distraction and does not keep focus on the main thing. Ultimately during adverse times that's what you have to do-- keep the main thing the main thing, stay focused on the task at hand. I think our guys are doing a really good job in that. 

"Moving forward to Missouri. Certainly a lot of familiar faces and I guess familiar schemes. Eli Drinkwitz, we've known each other for a long time, both grew up in Northwest Arkansas. Defensive Coordinator Corey Batoon was my defensive coordinator at South Alabama for the last three years. (He) worked for my dad for a number of years so obviously system, scheme wise there's a lot of similarities. Very impressed with (offensive coordinator) Kirby Moore and what they've done offensively. You see elements to what Drink has done over the years under even going back to Gus Malzahn and some of the things that he was doing at App State and NC State. Then certainly you see a lot of the flavor even of some of the things we do offensively under Kirby Moore. So lot of formations, they're certainly explosive on the outside. A lot of different things and pictures that they're going to show you. They've got a really dynamic passing game with an experienced quarterback. I think the dude is a extremely tough player, to be able to go whatever it was, I think it was the second drive of the (Auburn) game he was out, and then to come back in the third quarter and really will his team to win the game through running the football and scrambling. I thought was really impressive coming off of an injury. So impressed by their team and impressed by their toughness and their grit. We'll certainly have a tremendous challenge on Saturday that we're working very hard to make sure we maximize our opportunities." 

On the challenge of Missouri's pass game against Alabama's DBs, and how they can protect them from getting beat on explosive plays... 

"I think for us making sure that you have layers to what you're doing defensively. You want to make sure that you're staying on top of routes. There's times where you're going to challenge routes in the first 10 yards, so there's different ways of being able to defend the deep ball. So sometimes you want to stay on top of the route. Sometimes you want to defend it where you're challenging things in the first 10 yards. And even though you may be step for a step with a guy, or whatever it may be, you've disrupted the timing of the route to eliminate some of the deep threats as well. I think those are the things that you've got to just continue to be able to harp and work in and mix it. And pressure is most certainly a huge piece to being able to defend some of the long throws downfield as well." 

On how King Mack and Bray Hubbard performed against Tennessee...

"I thought Bray really did some great things in the game. Obviously had a huge third-down stop when we needed to get a three-and-out in that scenario and get the ball back to our offense. He made a hell of a play. I thought he did some really good things in the game.

"King was asked to do a tough deal. He played multiple positions, both our field safety and our nickel, the Husky position, and I thought he battled his tail off and made some plays. Ultimately, I know he would’ve loved to have had that last touchdown back. There’s some things we have to continue to clean up from a fundamental standpoint in man coverage, that he did in certain plays, but ultimately, heck of a play by their team. Not taking anything away from it, but certainly he and us would like to have that las touchdown back."

What he learned about defensive back depth against Tennessee...

"There’s always a next-man-up mentality. Those guys have to be ready at a moment’s notice. You talk about those things, you have a sense of urgency in practice. The guys that are rolling with the twos that, at any moment, they can step in and have a major impact on the game — certainly a game like this where you had a number of defensive backs that went down. You can point to this and say, hey, this is why it’s so critical that you have the same level of urgency as the guy that may be going out with the starting defense, because at any given moment, you’re going to come in and have a tremendous impact on the game, on way or another, whether you’re prepared for it or not.

"Certainly, I think our young guys, they seem to do that in practice. They have an urgency to get in. Bray Hubbard was a great example of that. Goes about his business workmanlike every single day and really prepares with an expectation that he’s going to go in and he produced at a really high level. It’s certainly an opportunity for us to be able to point toward how critical practice habits have to show up one way or another in games."

On Alabama's illegal substitution penalty in the first half against Tennessee...

"We tell guys, if you’re injured, if you’re hurt, if you’re pulling up with a cramp, you have to go down in that situation. We’re not able to substitute someone when a team is going fast, so if you’re injured, the protocol there is for the guy to go down. Our training room does a tremendous job. They got a guy back after however long it was."

On playing a complete game on both sides of the ball...

"That’s a great question. That’s the secret sauce, right? How do we play team football, offense, defense, special teams, collectively together to maximize our opportunity to win? You’re going to have moments where one side of the ball versus the other is executing better on any given moment. The most ideal thing is if we’re all hitting on all cylinders for four quarters, but that rarely happens in a game or in a season.

"As you look at this — there are no excuses, right? The standard is the standard and you have to find a way to win and you have to find a way to play complementary football across the board. But these are some of the growing pains we’re going to deal with and continue to work through as a football team, but I think there’s a ton of confidence in our players and our coaches knowing that we’re taking steps in a direction to be able to have great team chemistry. I think Kalen does a tremendous job with the culture of our program and the buy-in from our players. When you have adverse situations like this, it’s always about how you respond, and I think our guys have done a really good job in terms of their response, just in talking to them yesterday and with the demeanor that they had this morning."

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