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Roll Tide Willie calls for 'Blitz Bama Blitz' during Alabama practice

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•04/03/24•

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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

During Alabama’s practice on Wednesday, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack needed to call a play. He turned to the person next to him and turned the walkie talkie on, and a familiar refrain broke out.

“Blitz, Bama, blitz!”

Roll Tide Willie was in attendance for Wednesday’s practice, along with Chad Horne and Birmingham comedian FunnyMaine. Alabama posted the exchange with Wommack on social media, and FunnyMaine shared photos of the group meeting with new head coach Kalen DeBoer, as well.

Wommack certainly seemed happy with Roll Tide Willie’s play call, too.

“Damn right, I got you right here,” he replied.

It’s officially a new era in T-Town.

DeBoer is gearing up for his first A-Day as Alabama head coach after replacing a retired Nick Saban. He brings an impressive track record with him to the program, turning Washington around quickly over the last two years and taking the Huskies to the national championship in 2023.

DeBoer also made some big moves with his coaching staff, notably landing Wommack away from South Alabama, where he served as the head coach from 2021-23. The two worked together at Indiana, and as DeBoer started to learn the recruiting landscape in the south, his relationship with Wommack helped restore the connection and bring him to Tuscaloosa.

“That’s where I understood how good of a recruiter he is — he recruited the heck out of me,” DeBoer told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3 this week. “We really drew a strong relationship before I even accepted that opportunity to go there and then working with him and just how compatible he was and how team-first oriented he was.

“But yet, you know, he was all about making sure he had a good defense on the football field. His way of bringing a staff together, bringing players together — that just was a special year.”

Wommack was one of the first phone calls DeBoer made after Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne contacted him for the position as he learned more about recruiting the state.

“It was just more of the trust I had in him,” DeBoer said of the call. “Understanding, you know, ‘Hey, is this a fit for me?’ Things like that. And just hearing the scoop that he had and the insight he had to help me understand everything about this job. From afar, I knew and understand what Alabama football is all about, but just the details because he’s been in this part of the country for so long.”