Alabama football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spoke Wednesday for the first time to reporters in Tuscaloosa, and he made clear he is going to display the same things he expects from his players.
"I think the responsibility, as the defensive coordinator, is to set the tone of what you're looking for," Wommack said. "I write in my notes every single day before we go out, 'you set the standard.' You are the standard for how you want things done. I think leaders lead from the front, and they serve everyone else around them, but they also set the example and the tone of how things need to be.
"If I ask my players to bring energy every single day, I need to bring energy every single day. Ultimately, my job is to set the standard, cast vision, and then hold everybody accountable to the relentless detail that it takes to accomplish that vision."
Wommack set a standard of energy in practice. During the media viewing period that included individual defensive drills, Wommack brought enthusiasm and plenty of volume. He praised the players when they nailed the drill and was quick to offer pointers when they didn't. It's clear he's hands-on as a coach.
Here are other takeaways from Wednesday about Wommack and the new defense he is bringing to Alabama football .
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OK, maybe Wommack might be a bit biased here considering it's the position he coaches in addition to coordinating the defense, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.
"Our linebacker room is always, in my mind, going to set the tone for how we do things day in and day out," Wommack said. "I think Deontae (Lawson) is a guy that you can point towards right now that's doing things that are really high level."
Lawson is a returning starter on the inside, and Wommack was raving about him Wednesday. Lawson has a "great presence," Wommack said.
Wommack emphasized there's going to be some kind of meeting in the middle between his defense and the one Nick Saban ran.
That merger started happening before the regime change in Tuscaloosa, though. Alabama's defense evolved under Saban, and the 4-2-5 defense that Wommack runs has changed as well.
"We've kind of evolved more towards coach and he's probably evolved a little bit more towards us," Wommack said. "So the learning curve for our players is less than you would think."
There are going to be some adjustments and changes, though. Terminology/names for positions is one area. There are Wolves , Bandits, Stingers and Huskies in this defense. Those didn't exist in Saban's defenses, at least not under those names. (Quick lesson on those terms: Bandit is essentially a hybrid defensive lineman/edge defender, a Wolf is like an edge rusher, and then a Stinger is a defensive back, while the Husky is the nickelback).
Wommack spoke highly of his boss, Kalen DeBoer. He also sang praises of the offense. It's clear that Wommack knows an offense on a DeBoer team in practice is going to give a defense plenty to handle and prepare it in the long run.
"I can't imagine seeing anybody else in the country install at a more aggressive rate than what our offense does," Wommack said. "Those things are going to pay dividends for some of those young defensive backs."
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter .
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Kane Wommack: Alabama football defensive coordinator talks defense
