Alabama set to face Kane Wommack's former DC who now calls plays for Mizzou

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack will see some familiar faces on Saturday when the Crimson Tide welcomes Missouri to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

It starts with Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz, who grew us in the same part of the country as Wommack – Northwest Arkansas. But it will also be a reunion with a former staff member.

“(Missouri) defensive coordinator Corey Batoon was my defensive coordinator at South Alabama for the last three years,” Wommack said on Monday. “(He) worked for my dad for a number of years, so obviously system, scheme-wise, there’s a lot of similarities.”

Wommack and Batoon’s paths first crossed at Ole Miss in 2012 when the former was a grad assistant on his father’s coaching staff and the latter was an assistant athletic director for player development. When Wommack took the head coaching position at South Alabama in 2021, he hired Batoon to coach his “Swarm” defense in Mobile for three seasons.

Batoon improved South’s numbers in total and scoring defense in each of his three years, going from No. 92 and 53 when he was brought in in 2021 to No. 15 and 26, respectively, in 2023.

When preparing for the Tigers this week, Alabama’s players see some similarities.

“It’s definitely a lot of the same scheme,” tight end CJ Dippre said. “They definitely do a little bit different of what we do. We strive on a little different areas than they do. I think they play more off, more bail, and we’re more of a man team. But in general, the same thing, different players. 

“So just watching our guys, learning from them. Even asking them some questions. The safety position is a big one, so maybe asking Malachi (Moore), ‘What are you guys doing here? What do you see in this formation?’ They’re probably being taught the same stuff. So just relay it right back.”

Facing a familiar defense makes this week’s prep for Mizzou easier, Dippre said. Despite facing a scout team, Alabama got plenty of work against its own defense during the offseason.

“Since January all the way up to August, we’ve been going against our defense – ones on ones, twos on twos,” Dippre said. “We’ve seen that defense for such a long time, we’re gonna be able to just relate back to it and understand what we first learned about it.”

Missouri enters the Week 9 matchup against Alabama ranked among the top five in the SEC in scoring defense (15.6 ppg, 4th), passing defense (157.6, 2nd) and total defense (273.0, 3rd). At 6-1, the Tigers have only allowed three opponents to score more than 20 points in a game this fall – Boston College (21, W), Vanderbilt (27, W) and Texas A&M (41, L).

Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan didn’t bite when asked if he will lean on Wommack as preparation begins for the Homecoming game against Mizzou, but he offered praise for what he has seen from the Batoon-coached bunch through their first seven games.

“Certainly any type of crossover experiences or relationships that you have amongst staff you always have questions,” Sheridan said. “I would say what great coaches – and Coach Batoon is the same – is you try to adjust what you do based on the personnel that you have. And so there’s always core fundamentals and principles that both Kane and Coach Batoon share, but each group is a little bit different, each year is a little bit different. 

“And I think the way that they play, I think the effort, the toughness, the physicality, the disruption of the football, I think those are the things that you see aside from maybe some similarities schematically because I think great coaches – like the ones we’re going against this week – they just adjust to who they have and what their players do best. 

“And so year to year that may look different. But I think the style of play and how they play, those are things that show up with Coach Wommack and Coach Batoon.”

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