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Alabama figuring out who to train at husky throughout spring practice

63571867_t466o7i5ncby: Blake Byler03/07/25blakebyler45
DreKirkpatrickSpringPractice
Alabama DB Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. (courtesy UA Athletics)

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama has a ton of returning players in the secondary, but there’s some uncertainty surrounding the nickel position, also known as the husky in defensive coordinator Kane Wommack‘s system.

The starting husky last season was DeVonta Smith, who’s since transferred to Notre Dame for his final year of eligibility. DaShawn Jones moved from cornerback to husky about midway through the season and saw some major time there at the end of the year, and while Red Morgan played more husky at the start of the year, he was seen working with the cornerbacks during the media viewing period of spring practice this week.

Discussing the position group following Friday’s practice, Wommack said he’s using the spring to train some players at different positions and figure out who the best options are at husky moving forward.

“We’ve got a fairly deep secondary, and so there’s a lot of positional crossover,” Wommack said. “Right now, it’s trying to figure out, once we come back from spring break, who are the guys that we’re going to try to get a few extra reps at that nickel position, husky position, and try to build depth for us as a defense, which is something that we did not have in the secondary, you know, a year ago.”

The Crimson Tide secondary has major returning contributors all over the field. Both starting cornerbacks are back in Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, while Keon Sabb and Bray Hubbard both started games at safety last season.

The aforementioned Jones and Morgan provide experience at the husky spot, while there’s also the likes of Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., Zay Mincey and Kameron Howard back from last year, who all spent at least some time at safety. When discussing the position, Wommack mentioned Kirkpatrick by name.

“I think, you know (DaShawn Jones) was coming back from a little injury,” Wommack said. “He’s been out a little bit. So just now getting to see him a little bit there, going through individual and stuff. Been really impressed with Dre Kirkpatrick. He’s doing some really good things.”

Wommack hopes the building of depth and cross-training players will prevent issues similar to last season from arising, such as when the Tide lost its top three options at husky during the loss to Tennessee.

“And, really, that hurts you when you’re in games like Tennessee and all of a sudden our one and two husky go down, and then our three husky goes down and somebody else is in there. So we need to try and build that overlap,” Wommack said.

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