How absurd Arkansas backfield put Kane Wommack on path to Alabama defensive coordinator

Almost two decades ago, running back Darren McFadden walked into the Arkansas locker room wearing a clown costume.

That’s how Kane Wommack remembers one Halloween in Fayetteville, back when the future Alabama football defensive coordinator was a member of the Razorbacks football team. And the costume selection for McFadden couldn’t have been more fitting.

“He was like the class clown,” Wommack told AL.com. “He was always cutting it up. He was always making fun of somebody. He was always telling a joke.”

But McFadden was anything but a joke himself. The two-time Doak Walker award winner, two-time SEC offensive player of the year and unanimous All-American dominated for the Razorbacks en route to becoming a first-round NFL Draft pick in 2008.

“I thought what was always so impressive about him: He could go from the class clown to the standard of work,” Wommack said.

The wild part: McFadden made up only one part of an absurd Arkansas backfield.

It included McFadden, Felix Jones, Peyton Hillis, all future NFL running backs, and … Wommack, a backup fullback not near the top of the depth chart. There were others in the backfield as well.

“By sophomore year, it was very evident we could be one of the best backfields of all time,” Wommack said.

He quickly corrected himself.

“… They could be one of the best backfields of all time.”

So no, Wommack wasn’t exactly a staple in the rotation of what became one of the best SEC backfields of all time. But he was in the room. He was around.

Why does that matter for Alabama football, two decades later? Because the two years Wommack spent at Arkansas from 2005-06 provided some of his first lessons in great offense that later informed his defensive coaching; This season, he brings that to Tuscaloosa as the new guy running the defense.

“My offensive experiences as a player and a coach absolutely shaped who I am as a defensive coordinator,” Wommack said.

The juice guy

Wommack didn’t need to be reminded of his stats. Before a certain reporter sitting in his office at the Mal M. Moore Athletics Facility on Monday could find them on a page of notes, Wommack jumped in.

“Two carries for six yards,” Wommack said.

Then he chuckled. Wommack might not have a plethora of stats, but he’s got plenty of memories.

“I was a tough ass,” he said. “I played hard. I did everything coaches asked me to do. I was on every special teams. As a younger player, I was the scout team juice guy.”

At first, Wommack ran scout team offense for the Razorbacks. He excelled there, so Arkansas coach Houston Nutt moved him to scout team defense. He wanted Wommack to challenge the offense, and Wommack could still work with the offense primarily as a backup fullback. But he was running scout team linebacker.

“We would go attack the offense,” Wommack said. “We’d bring energy every day. I was going to make all the checks and communications because I knew what defense we were going to be facing that week.”

Wommack might have been an offensive player in title, but he was already showing signs of defensive aptitude.

The Arkansas masterclass in offense

Wommack offered a scouting report of his former Arkansas teammates.

McFadden was the life of the party. Jones was a little bit quieter. Hillis went about his business but would cut up with teammates as well. All different, but they had one big similarity.

“All three of those guys, when it became about the work, they set the standard of what it was supposed to look like,” Wommack said.

They worked. And worked well. In 2006, McFadden rushed for 1647 yards and 14 touchdowns. Jones ran for 1168 yards and six touchdowns. Hillis added another score in his role as a fullback.

They led the way as Arkansas went 10-4 and won the SEC West.

Consider them Wommack’s teachers in the ways of elite offense. The top takeaway Wommack had: If defenses don’t stop the run, they’re in trouble.

“If you let people bleed you down the field, you’re going to have a really hard day and you’re going to open things in the passing game,” Wommack said. “Play actions come alive. The trick plays and all that kind of stuff. Screens. So on and so forth. So for us, to make sure you’re rooted and grounded in defending the run I think is critical to being a successful defensive coordinator.”

Wommack witnessed plenty of creativity, too. Specifically, the Wildcat formation. The Arkansas coaches wanted to figure out how to best use McFadden, Jones and Hillis at the same time, so Wommack recalled the wildcat offense making the most sense to them. It proved dangerous; McFadden even threw from it. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 205 yards and seven touchdowns over his three seasons with the Razorbacks.

“For me, getting to see that and getting to see the hard work of some younger players that I got to come up with, and then the success on the field all the way to an SEC championship game was really rewarding,” Wommack said. “It kind of set the tone of how important playmakers are.”

Continuing education

The next couple chapters on offense in Wommack’s football textbook came courtesy of other places. After two seasons with the Razorbacks, Wommack transferred to Southern Miss. Once his playing career was done, he worked as a Southern Miss graduate assistant on the offensive line. His next job, Wommack became quarterbacks coach at UT-Martin.

Wommack learned plenty more over that time. A few examples:

-How the offensive line protects

-How the offensive line identifies things in the run game

-How a quarterback goes through progressions in the passing game

That time helped him later shape defenses in terms of disguise and anticipating route concepts.

“It has paid huge dividends in my career,” Wommack said.

Wommack took what he learned about offense and soon transformed into a defensive coach. After a few more graduate assistant stints, he got his first defensive coordinator job with Eastern Illinois in 2014. From there, he spent time at South Alabama and Indiana as defensive coordinator. Before Wommack arrived at Indiana, the defense ranked No. 81 nationally. His first season in 2019, it jumped to No. 45. By 2020, it reached No. 20 in the country. After a stint as South Alabama’s head coach the past three seasons, Wommack is now back in the defensive coordinator chair, working for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama.

Sure, Wommack coaching defense might have been viewed as the likely result considering he grew up the son of a longtime defensive coordinator. But for Wommack, at the root of it all is a start in offense. Specifically, as part of one of the best SEC backfields ever.

“Seeing that probably helped me from a football foundation standpoint,” Wommack said. “Schematically and just philosophically what you’re trying to get accomplished.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.