Alabama DC Kane Wommack keeps reminder from Vanderbilt loss in defensive staff room

Alabama has turned the page to the 2025 season for a while now, but defensive coordinator Kane Wommack doesn’t want to forget one game from the Crimson Tide’s 2024 season.

During an interview with WNSP 105.5 FM on Tuesday morning, Wommack revealed that he kept the “game block” from Alabama’s October 5 road loss at Vanderbilt from a year ago.

Those are white cubes with the logo of each of the Tide’s opponents on them that are stacked like a pyramid in the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility. The SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff are at the top, and after each win, all of the players sign the block.

The blocks for losses, however, are not signed. And since Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, 40-35, a year ago, that game block is still clean. Rather than tossing it in the trash, though, Wommack held onto it, and he revealed that it currently sits in the Tide’s defensive staff room.

“I keep it right there as a reminder that every minute is an opportunity to better your team, and if you’re not doing that, you’re leaving yourself short,” Wommack said. “So sometimes we need those reminders to bring out the best in all of us.”

One week after beating then-No. 2 Georgia at home, Alabama fell short in Nashville. Vanderbilt out-gained the Crimson Tide, 418-394, which included 166 yards on the ground. Quarterback Diego Pavia threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-20 passing. And the UA defense couldn’t get off the field, as the Commodores were 12-of-18 on third down.

“We did some great things at the beginning of the season, but we couldn’t get off the field in the second half against Georgia,” Wommack said. “They were 5-for-5 on fourth down. And then, of course, Vanderbilt was a terrible job on third down, and I didn’t do a good enough job finding ways to get us off the field.”

After the Vanderbilt loss, however, Womack was proud of the strides the defense made.

“We took steps from that point to just get better and better each week to where I thought we played our best ball week in and week out, which is what you want, even to the end of the season in the bowl game there,” Wommack said. “So there were some really good things. It wasn’t nearly the standard, and we’ve got to find a way to improve. 

“But I’m really excited coming out of spring and headed into the season about where we are right now defensively.”

Alabama welcomed back nine players who started multiple games on defense last year. Depth has improved at a number of positions, too, including the secondary, as Wommack has noted all spring. The Tide also added promising pieces via a No. 3 recruiting class and the transfer portal this offseason, making Wommack look forward to Year 2 in Tuscaloosa.

“I think we navigated the transfer portal well,” Wommack said. “We were able to retain a number of players via opportunities that maybe they had somewhere else or opportunities to go on to the NFL, and they felt like they wanted to stay another season. We were able to bring a couple of great players from the transfer portal that we – what I would say – we hit on as you look to this point. 

“And then, on top of that, some of these freshmen, I think, are going to be able to come and contribute. And you’ve got to have that nowadays with the way that the transfer portal and depth and all those things, you’ve got to have some freshmen that are going to come and play for, and I think that we’ve kind of hit all those markers. 

“I’m excited about where we are to this point.”

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