Alabama DC Kane Wommack Encourages Young Linebacker To Be Himself Ahead of Sophomore Season

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama football enters the 2026 season with limited questions on the defensive side of the ball. The Crimson Tide returns an experienced secondary, has a highly-touted edge rusher and went into the transfer portal for veteran linemen. One of the few questions concerns what the program will do at inside linebacker.

Alabama added Caleb Woodson from the transfer portal out of Virginia Tech, and he immediately asserted himself in the program, locking down one of the two vacant starting roles. The other spot is still up for grabs, but the Crimson Tide has several young linebackers fighting to get on the field.

"I think Chuck Morrell did a fantastic job in the offseason of just preparing these guys," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. "He's relentless in the preparation that he demands out of that room, and those young linebackers -- they don't know anything different, so they follow suit. They work their ass off, they live in the building, and it's really been great to see their development. Some of the improvements they've made on the D-line this offseason certainly helps that linebacking corps as well. One thing we wanted to make sure was we were more aggressive from the 'backing corps -- guys getting downhill and being more aggressive at the line of scrimmage, and I think those guys have really taken heart to that."

The Crimson Tide has juniors QB Reese and Cayden Jones, and sophomores Luke Metz and Abduall Sanders working to show they should be the program's primary stinger in 2026. Metz saw action in all 15 games in 2025, working as a core special teams player and a backup linebacker. He and Reese have received the most buzz this offseason, but Wommack revealed on Tuesday he had to encourage Metz to play freely in the spring after getting bogged down a bit in the schematics of a difficult defense.

"Luke has always been a guy that, when you watch his tape, the energy that he plays with, the passion he plays with, and the physicality. I thought at the beginning of spring ball he got a little bit where he was more concerned about the scheme and making a mistake. He was playing a little bit hesitant at the beginning of spring. I talked to him like, 'Hey man, go back to who you are and what you do. You're a guy that can go run and hit and be decisive.' He took that to heart. He took strides as we moved into spring ball, and then you saw that through the summer time, and right now he's playing at a very high level. Excited about him. Excited about a number of those linebackers right now that are really playing aggressive. One of the things that I think you see from our defensive line playing more consistent right now is that because they're in their gap and they're doing their job, the linebackers are now playing more aggressive. The safeties are coming down and fitting more aggressively because they have confidence in guys holding their gap responsibility. All those things go hand-in-hand when it starts up front."

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