‘Be the aggressor’: How Kane Wommack wants Alabama defense to play

New Alabama football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack doesn’t want the Crimson Tide to start slow in games this season.

He didn’t think Alabama played particularly well early in the spring game. Wommack is challenging his defense to prevent those in the future.

“We’ve really encouraged our guys to start playing not on their heels but be the aggressor early and that means playing with some instincts,” Wommack said Thursday after practice. “I think we’re seeing that.”

Wommack inherits a defense that didn’t return many starters from 2023. Gone are Justin Eboigbe, Dallas Turner, Chris Braswell, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Terrion Arnold, Caleb Downs and Jaylen Key.

Many new faces will man the defense, and with it, Wommack will welcome in a new defense. It includes new positions (Wolf, Bandit) and new approaches (vision coverage).

“People have a misconception of vision coverage, that it’s all this space out there when really what you’re doing is you’re taking away the grass and the people that the quarterback is wanting to get the ball to,” Wommack said. “So our players naturally starting to get a little bit more matchy with some of their coverage when we play some of our vision style coverages and then just having a better feel for our defense.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group.Follow him on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.