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TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Alabama ranked 48th in the nation in third-down defense last season, allowing opponents to convert 37.1 percent of their third-down attempts. In the Crimson Tide’s four losses, the opponents converted 41.8 percent of third downs.
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At times, Alabama struggled to get off the field on third downs, especially in third-and-long scenarios. It’s one of the reasons defensive coordinator Kane Wommack is considering using more press coverage this season after his offseason conversations with former Alabama head coach and defensive guru Nick Saban.
“There are times where you have to be able to play match coverage to be able to go win in this league,” Wommack said after Tuesday’s practice. “In the offseason, Coach Saban and I talk a lot, and that was one thing that he brought up watching us on third downs. I thought he had some really good points of having one or two more variations of things that we can do to be able to complement some of the stuff that we’re already doing.
“You look at our third down numbers in the past in our history, they’ve been pretty good. I thought we’re not where we needed to be. We had too many third-and-longs where we didn’t get off the field. For us, maybe having a couple more variations and things that we do.”
Alabama has longer defensive backs, like 6-4 sophomore cornerback Dijon Lee Jr., who are built for success in press and man coverage. While he doesn’t have the final say as a player, Lee said the Crimson Tide will “definitely” be pressing a lot more this season.
“I love playing press coverage,” Lee said. “I’m a taller corner, get my hands on people, disrupt routes.”
Wommack still plans on utilizing a lot of vision-style coverage with man mixed in. The length of Alabama’s DBs gives the staff the options to change up coverage styles.
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Alabama has one of the most talented and experienced secondaries in the country, and Kalen DeBoer said that it is the position that starts the swagger for the rest of the team.
“To be a dominant defense, you have to be able to go play some press and some man, and that’s something that we’ve always done,” Wommack said. “We did more of it in 2024, and then last year did a little bit less for a number of reasons. But something that I hope that that we’re moving back in a direction to where we feel like we can we can do that and also play a couple variations of some matchier style coverage.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/alabama as What Nick Saban Saw from Alabama’s Defense, What Kane Wommack is Doing to Improve It.
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This story was originally published August 11, 2026 at 11:03 AM.