Alabama DC Kane Wommack's initial thoughts on facing Florida State offense
Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack shared an “obvious statement” when asked what offensive trends create problems for a defense. He believes every team is trying to do the same thing – “shape their … scheme around their personnel and their quarterback.”
“I think when you look at our league right now, you’ve got a number of teams that like to run the ball offensively through the quarterback position,” said Wommack on Tuesday night at the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet, via AL.com. “So that presents a number of challenges, in and of itself, when you have wide receivers that can stretch you laterally and vertically, you’ve got tight ends who can make plays in space.
“Finding ways to handle things on the back end from a coverage perspective but be structurally sound for the quarterback run game is something that we really had to evolve and adapt as the season went on from a defensive perspective, and that’s something that’s kind of on the forefront of my mind as you approach every game.”
Some mobile quarterbacks had success against Alabama in Wommack’s first year running the defense, like South Florida’s Byrum Brown (108 yards) and Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold (135). Other strong runners weren’t as productive – the Crimson Tide held South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers to 19 yards, which was his second-lowest output of the season.
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Alabama will be tested out of the gate when it travels to Tallahassee, Florida to take on Florida State on August 30. The Seminoles added Boston College transfer Tommy Castellanos to their roster this offseason. While Castellanos only rushed for 194 yards in 2024 – and missed time due to injury – he eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards (1,113) the previous year.
Calling plays for the Florida State offense this fall will be former Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. There will be a lot of new faces for the Seminoles when Alabama rolls into town, but Wommack is familiar with what his defense will face at Doak Campbell Stadium, as the Tide coordinator played at Arkansas for Malzahn’s lone year as OC in 2006.
“You look at our first game of the season against Florida State – athletic quarterback,” Wommack said. “I played for Gus Malzahn. I know how Gus does things from a quarterback run game. Mike Norvell does the same thing. So those are the things that you kind of have to be aware of, that everybody has an element to that in their game plan.”
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