Alabama has cornerback depth it didn't have last season, Wommack says

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — One of Alabama’s thinnest rooms coming into the 2024 football season was its cornerback room. Following Nick Saban‘s retirement, there was a mass exodus of corners from the 2023 roster, leaving just one player at that position left over from the the 2023 team. That left the unit full of newcomers that had to learn both being at Alabama and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack‘s defense.

Now looking at the 2025 roster, the script is flipped. The Tide brought back both starting corners in Domani Jackson and Zabien Brown, and has some nice depth behind them.

“We have something that we didn’t have a year ago, which is depth in our backfield. And that’s exciting. Quite honestly, it’s what I expected when I came here to Alabama––that we would have great depth. You’re always going to have years where you have to kind of rebuild some of that depth,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said on Monday.

“You’ve found yourself in a position of guys that left for the draft and guys in the transfer portal and the transition from coach Saban to coach DeBoer to where we just didn’t have the depth probably that we needed to be consistent on the back end throughout the year. And even that, I think our guys did a tremendous job. But now you feel like you have some bodies that you can work with.”

Behind the two starters, Alabama has other players at corner that can contribute as well. DaShawn Jones saw plenty of snaps a year ago and has been working as the nickelback throughout spring. Dijon Lee, a true freshman, and Cam Calhoun, a transfer from Utah, both seem to be capable options behind the two starters. Wommack even had Red Morgan working with the corners this spring after playing safety his freshman year last season.

“I think some of those guys have position versatility. You know, we’re going to be able to move some pieces around between the corner and safety room and dual-train guys so that we find creative ways to get the right packages on the field,” Wommack said. “Because I think, to your point, these are the questions that I ask myself and the staff all the time––How do we get our best 11 on the field in the right moments? You know what I mean?

“And that’s really my job, to be able to figure those things out, be it packages, be it situationally, and then ultimately, how do we make sure that the best 11 represent us when we step on the field for the first point and the last point.”

Lee in particular has made significant noise this spring. He enrolled early so that he could go through spring practice and get acclimated to the everyday life of a college football player, and wowed coaches with his ability. He’s every bit of 6-foot-3, giving the Tide a unique frame to work with on the outside.

With Jackson having to sit out of A-Day with an injury, Lee was in the first group of corners on the field during 11-on-11s next to Brown. When asked what the chances are that Lee sees time on the field this fall, Wommack didn’t shy away.

“I think time will tell. But I think Dijon is very much on pace to contribute for us as a freshman. That’s always impressive to me when you can have a freshman that can compete in the SEC,” Wommack said. “Obviously the measurables, the talent, the skill level, the discipline, he reminds me a little bit of Zabien and how disciplined and detailed Zabien was when he got here. Mo Linguist does a tremendous job with that group in terms of building in the fundamentals and the discipline to do your job over and over again. You can have 60 snaps as a corner and you can play 58 of them really well, but if you’re not consistent in those other two plays you had a bad day.

“I think he’s done a really nice job of some of the things that I have seen him not do well enough or get exposed on, he gets those things fixed and he can sustain that fix throughout the rest of spring. If he’ll continue on that trajectory through the summertime and into fall camp you’re gonna see him on the field.”

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