DeBoer expected to hire Group of 5 head coach as DC at Alabama
South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack is expected to be the defensive coordinator on Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama staff, barring something unforeseen, BamaOnLine has learned.
Sources indicated DeBoer contacted Wommack before his interview with Travaris Robinson took place on Sunday. The two coaches worked together at Indiana in 2019 when Wommack was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and DeBoer was the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator. There was an obvious connection there that made sense for this likely hire.
Wommack also has ties to the state of Alabama with two stints at South Alabama – one as the defensive coordinator in 2016-17 and another as the Jaguars’ current head coach. He has also spent time in the South, which is big for DeBoer’s first staff, with early stops in his career at UT Martin, Jacksonville State and Ole Miss (as a grad assistant from 2012-13).
Background on Wommack
Wommack’s last stint as a defensive coordinator was in 2020 at Indiana, where he spent two seasons. A finalist for the Broyles Award that year, Wommack’s defense led the Big Ten in both interceptions (17) and red zone conversion rate (64 percent). The Hoosiers also finished 10th nationally in turnover margin and were among the top 25 in scoring defense.
In his first year at IU, Wommack was the younger defensive coordinator at the Power 5 level and led the Hoosiers to top 50 rankings in scoring, total, rushing and passing defense for the first time since 1993. Indiana held four opponents to three points or less, which was the most in a single season since the school limited five teams to three or fewer in 1945.
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Wommack was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at South Alabama in 2016-17, leading a unit that was among the top 10 in the country in passing defense (174.6 ypg) and held the opposition to 10 points less per game than the previous year, was the fifth-best improvement in the FBS in 2016. In 2017, South was top 15 nationally in red zone defense.
A former fullback at Arkansas and Southern Miss, Wommack’s first stint as a college defensive coordinator came in 2014 at Eastern Illinois, where he helped lead the Panthers to a first-round appearance in the FCS playoffs. In 2015, EIU’s defense ranked second nationally in interceptions (19), third in turnovers (31) and fourth in pass efficiency defense.
Expected members of DeBoer’s staff
OFFENSE
Ryan Grubb, OC/QB coach
JaMarcus Shephard, WR coach
Scott Huff, OL coach
Nick Sheridan, TE coach
Robert Gillespie, RB coach
DEFENSE
Kane Wommack, DC
Freddie Roach, DL coach
Stay tuned to BamaOnLine as DeBoer looks to fill out the rest of his Alabama coaching staff.
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