Coming off Saturday's loss to Vanderbilt , Alabama football safety Malachi Moore did not hesitate on giving a critique of the Crimson Tide defensive coaching staff.
To the fifth-year safety , Alabama 's defensive calls have come "a little late," giving players "anxiety of not knowing what the offense is (going to) run or adjusting to their formations."
And while Moore recognized this is defensive coordinator Kane Wommack''s "style of calling," and that he's chasing perfection, the safety said the tools in Wommack's toolbox have also changed.
"He knows we're at Bama now and he has a lot of pieces," Moore said. "He doesn't have to compensate anything. As long as he gives us the call and allows us to put our feet in the dirt, we're going to to be great."
In Saturday's 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt , the Crimson Tide allowed 418 yards of offense. The Commodores converted 12 of 18 third-down attempts, and held onto the ball for more than 42 minutes of game play.
Is Alabama football defense hitting 'panic button?'
Moore's critique is something Alabama's defensive coaching staff has taken into consideration heading into Saturday's game against South Carolina .
"Football is about communication," Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach said. Wednesday. "If I don't know what gap you're in or where you're coming down and where you're rolling high, you know, that's a big part. And I appreciate, and everybody in that building appreciates, guys giving us feedback of what we need to do to be successful. We've taken steps to fix that. We'll do what we have to do to give us the opportunity to win the ballgame."
Alabama co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist said he loves Moore whose "heart is into Alabama more than anybody I've ever been around." Linguist also said the Alabama coaching staff is "going to do everything we can to put our players in the best position to be successful."
"Maybe it's a hot topic, a hot discussion about things, but we're trying to find every single way we can to continue to improve and grow and get better," Linguist said. "And (this is) one of the things we're trying to continue to improve, an area we're continuing to improve in."
This is something Moore has no doubt of. Wommack, he said, has done a "great job" of remaining accountable while also preaching accountability for his players in terms of missed fits or even the good that was done.
"I think everybody's, like I said, being very accountable of what happened Saturday and definitely working very hard for it never to happen again," Moore said.
Alabama takes on South Carolina at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium .
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football defensive coaches react to Malachi Moore's critique
