Everything Kane Wommack said after Alabama's third spring practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spoke to reporters after the third practice of spring camp. It will be Wommack’s first and only interview of the spring.

Below is everything Wommack said on Friday.

Wommack on seven draft-eligible players returning to Alabama…

“Great job by our staff in recruiting in the 25 class. Really you talk about those older guys who made the decision to come back. I think that’s the best recruiting job of all. I think it also speaks to players believing in a culture, believing in what we’re doing moving forward and what we’re able to accomplish. Even when things didn’t go as well at times last season, certainly there was more for us to be able to give. I think the players see the vision. The older guys in particular see the vision of where we’re headed. Awesome kind of stamp of approval on those guys.

“It just sets the tone for all those younger players. Nowadays, you would sign somebody in February and you’d have to wait until the summertime to get them here. You sign them and then they’re here so they’re able to draw on the experience of those older players. That part’s really helpful.”

Wommack on who’s emerging on the interior defensive line…

“I think you saw some guys that started taking steps in the bowl game against Michigan. I thought certainly obviously James Smith had a great game and is going to take a more central role for us moving forward. Guys in spring I’m noticing out there, Edric Hill is doing a really good job. Jeremiah Beaman is doing a really good job. So we’re going to have to ask some of those younger players to step up in a major role this year. So it’s going to be a tough challenge for them.”

Wommack on if he feels Alabama has enough interior depth…

“I don’t know if I ever feel like I have enough depth on the interior. It’s certainly an area I think from a defensive standpoint, it’s probably one of our biggest areas of depth concern. Development is the best recipe for that. We’ll make sure we address those needs in any way we need to before the season.”

Wommack on when other teams have the ball on the 1-yard line…

“We talk, we’ve been really successful over the years in red zone defense. Certainly, we do some things schematically I really like. More than anything, I think it’s the mentality that we build. We talk about having a situational philosophy and talking about red zone defense. The biggest thing is the ability to hold the line. Maybe I told you guys this before, but we use a reference from the movie the Black Panther. T’Challa in the movie says Yibambe, and I looked that up and it’s an African bantu word that means hold fast the line. I think our players just getting them to buy into something.

“A lot of it is putting yourself into a menality. I don’t care if they just cram the ball down your throat for 85 yards or the offense turns the ball over and it’s first and goal on the five. It’s a mentality that you have to find a way to get a stop there. I showed the guys this morning a great example. LSU, they break a big run against us. It’s first and goal on the five yard line. We get off the field, we get a stop, we hold them to a field goal. They don’t score a touchdown until a minute left in the game. Just that mentality and how important it is to never quit. It ain’t over till it’s over down there.”

Wommack on Florida transfer Kelby Collins, Alabama’s Bandit position…

“Kelby is doing both for us. He’s playing inside and outside, which is a lot to ask for a guy coming in new. Like some things I see from him. He’s growing and learning into the position. Learning the defense. Fundamentally how we do things vs. where he was before, you see some differences there. From an overall position standpoint, LT Overton, Jordan Renaud, Keeon Keeley is doing some really good things right now. I’m excited about that unit.”

Wommack on if Dijon Lee will stick at cornerback…

“Obviously, time will tell, right? Bodies develop and all those things, but he looks like a corner right now. He looks like a really long-ass corner. He’s got really good feet. He’s got a maturity — he reminds me a little bit of Zabien. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him too early, but he has a demeanor that indicates that a freshman can come in and contribute. Mo does such a great job with the discipline and detail of those guys at that position. I think he had a pick today, but he gave up a ball today as well. Those are the give and take of, how will he respond to that as spring ball goes on.”

Wommack on the biggest point of emphasis of the spring…

“Couple things. First off, we want to be able to create more negative plays, and that’s hard to see a little bit when the quarterback’s not live. That’s a good thing, that we don’t let our quarterbacks go live right now. But at the same time, I thought we took some great strides and had some really good numbers from an efficiency standpoint defensively, but we were not anywhere where we needed to be in terms of creating negative plays. That has to be a point of emphasis from a fundamental standpoint, schematically, and then just having an understanding of that.

“We’re a vision coverage-based team. We were able to create a lot of takeaways. I think we finished fourth in the country or something like that in takeaways last year, which was good, but I feel like we left a lot of opportunities out there from the standpoint of our players being able to anticipate. When you play with vision, based on the quarterback’s drop and where his eye progression goes, you have to be able to react to that and play with anticipation as opposed to reaction, and we’re not anywhere where we need to be yet.”

Wommack on Utah transfer Cam Calhoun…

“Really like Cam. He has a maturity about him. You can tell this dude’s been a seasoned player at a place that’s established itself as one of the great defenses year in and year out at Utah. It’s not an easy task to get on the field at that program, and he was, a starter, so it’s awesome to be able to gain that experience.

“He’s got a little — he’s from Cincinnati, and those Cincinnati guys, if you’ve ever recruited that area, they’ve got a little something to them, you know what I mean? He plays with a good energy. He plays with a mindset of attacking the ball and brings some juice to our group. We’re a relatively quiet secondary, for the most part, so it’s kind of nice to have another guy out there that plays up in people’s face.”

Wommack on freshman Wolf linebacker Justin Hill…

“Justin, another young guy that is just — he’s got a maturity about him. Some of these freshmen, it amazes me. I think about, where was I in the headspace at 18 years old? In my freshman year of college at the University of Arkansas? I wasn’t even close to what some of these guys are in terms of athletically, obviously, but more so from a standpoint of their mentality. These guys come with a mentality and they’re ready to work and you see it. I walk down to the defensive staff room, and there’s freshmen in every single coach’s office. That’s a testament to our coaches, but it’s also a testament to those freshmen, and Justin Hill is a great example of that.”

Wommack on getting LT Overton to finish at the quarterback…

“I think I have to do some things to help him out, right? There’s some emphasis points of just, you know, we talk about it all the time. If we can get indicators that there’s a pass, all of our calls have a mentality that when we recognize pass, we might run a pattern or a blitz where we step on the toes of the guard and then work into the A gap, right? Or widen yourselves out a little bit as a pass rusher. So just those little nuanced pieces, we’re going to try to work those things, give them a chance to cut it loose off the edge.

“I’ve said it before, LT is one of the best on-body rushers I’ve seen. So he does a really good job when he’s on-body of being able to take those little twists and moves and hand placement and footwork and all that stuff. And I think him just taking that next step and us making it as a point of emphasis, hopefully, you know, those quarterback hurries turn into sacks.”

Wommack on the next step for Alabama’s defense…

“When you look at a young group of guys, and this starts with me, right? My first year here. I think the biggest experience that we can all gain from last season is there has to be a sense of urgency to do the same high-level job every single day. And I don’t think it was malicious by anybody from a standpoint of maybe you have a good day here, you’re focused here, or walking into this game vs. that game. But when you have success, it should breed a sense of urgency to create more success for you. And I don’t think we handled success well as a team, collectively, and I think that hurt us on the field. It obviously hurt us on the field.

“So those are the things that, you know, what you want to try and build in these young players is understanding that take the experiences you’ve had and apply them to have a sense of urgency. Not a panic, but a sense of urgency to attack every single rep over and over and over again. And I think that, to me, it what has kept us from being great a year ago.”

Wommack on Alabama’s Husky position…

“I think, you know (DaShawn Jones) was coming back from a little injury. 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. And then we’ve got a fairly deep secondary, and so there’s a lot of positional crossover.

“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. 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.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $11.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!