Everything Kane Wommack Said After Bye Week, Previewing LSU

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack held a press conference on Monday ahead of the No. 4 Crimson Tide's home game this Saturday against LSU. A full transcript, featuring Wommack's remarks about Tigers interim coach Frank Wilson, Alabama Wolf linebacker Yhonzae Pierre and more, is below (accompanied by video).

Opening Statement:

"Yeah, just a quick wrap-up of last week or two weeks ago. I do think as a football team we continue to find a lot of fight and find ways to win football games when it matters most. I thought defensively, we had some very timely takeaways, the pick-six early in the game, obviously, and then finding a way to take the ball away the last drive of the game, giving our offense an opportunity to score. We also had six three-and-outs in the game that were really critical as well, still some explosive plays that we’ve got to continue to find ways to eliminate and we gave up an explosive play for a touchdown, which is something that is uncharacteristic, but certainly unacceptable in that regard. Those are areas that we keep working and fighting. As we moved into a bye week, last week, you’re able to evaluate yourself and look at some of the things that you’re doing well, some of the things that you’ve got to continue to improve upon, and even from a fundamental standpoint areas that you can get better. You know I talk to the guys about this all the time, good football teams get better. Good football players get better as the season goes on and if you don’t you’re giving somebody else an opportunity to bridge the gap. I think we’re doing a good job in that regard. I thought our players handled the bye week with maturity. I thought they had a sense of urgency and then had some much needed and much earned time away as well, which is important. Obviously, they got to get away a little bit, had Halloween going on, all that stuff. Guys got do all that stuff, as families we got a chance to do those things as well. Which, watching the trick-or-treating, and people go crazy for a candy bar, it really concerns me about the moral fiber of our country moving forward. But back to work, so I don’t have to worry about those things. I don’t look at the news. I don’t look at anything. That was the only chance I got to see the outside world and it wasn’t pretty. So, anyway. That being said, looking ahead to LSU, this is a very dangerous football team. They are as explosive as we have seen. This is as talented of an offensive skill group that we have seen, with a very experienced quarterback. You watch Garrett, where he was a year ago to the decisions that he’s making now, he does a better job of making decisions under duress. He does a better job of taking care of the football. He’s got some real toughness, and moxie, to making critical throws, even when it’s not a clean pocket. You look at their tight end, he’s probably a top-ten pick in the NFL. He’s a truly elite football player. You look at their receiving corps, there’s just multiple players that a five yard hitch route can go for 50 yards and a touchdown, those are things we’ve got to be mindful of. I think their offensive line is taking steps and strides in the right direction. They’re young, but they are physical. I think they’re more physical than where they were a year ago as an offensive line. Their running backs are very dynamic. All of them are track style players, run whatever their high school times and you look at some of the gps numbers that they’ve had. So this, like any great LSU-Alabama matchup will be a tremendous challenge for us and one that our players seem to have a great sense of urgency for. I thought we had a great Sunday practice yesterday. Guys came in the way you would want them to come in after a couple of days on a bye week. Very much looking forward to the week ahead and looking forward to putting a great product on the field in Bryant-Denny on Saturday."

On the run defense with and without Tim Keenan III:

"Well, I think Tim, Tim is such a physical presence in those a-gaps and some of the things that we’re able to do with him from a zero-nose standpoint, where he’s head up to the center. We’ve got a few different fronts where we operate where he’s playing a zero-nose. Anytime that you can two-gap and create some havoc and then some of the blocking schemes and the way people have to block versus a zero-nose versus a shade. He can be influential in four-down looks, absolutely, and some of the things that he’s doing up front when we show a zero-nose as well is very disruptive and so those are things that you know, great to watch and see the strides that he’s taking right now and the steps he’s taken. Him and Deontae Lawson were our power players of the week last week. Both those guys have overcome injury and adversity, and I think are moving in a trajectory right now where they’re playing their best football.”

On Alex Atkins:

“Yeah, I’ve known Alex for a long time. Alex was at UT-Martin under Jason Simpson, Ty’s dad, right before I was there at UT-Martin. He’s had a great career, very well respected offensive line coach and offensive mind. You look at some of the things they have done over the years in the run game and been very balanced offensively where he’s been as well. So, obviously, in a situation like they’re in right now, to have someone that they can go to like Alex is a great luxury for them. I think when you look at it, you’re trying to anticipate what we might see slightly different from what they’re doing. Everybody has an identity, and everybody really shapes that identity around what their players are doing well and that given point in the season. But most certainly you have to anticipate and expect for there to be some wrinkles and some of them we’ll try to anticipate and work, others we’ll see what shows up on Saturday and we’ll adjust. That’s what good defensive staffs do.”

On LSU interim coach Frank Wilson:

“Yeah, Frank was my position coach in college. I love Frank. I mean, he was a very influential, impactful coach. I think he's very intentional with his players. He's intentional in the recruiting process. I think I'm a better football coach and player because of my time with Frank Wilson. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I can't think of a better person to step in at LSU, in a place that cares deeply for that program and that state, and what this means to him. He'll have that team ready to go. They will be motivated, they'll be ready. They'll be well prepared. And so certainly I have great appreciation for him, personally, and obviously, he’ll have that team ready. Always neat to see people that, along the line, you know of your path and career, have great success. And certainly Frank is one of those.”

On how much more challenging it made his bye week facing a new play-caller:

“Well, the film is the film, right? And you look at what a team does. That offensive staff came up with a game plan together .I'm sure there were certain things and certain ideas that maybe their offensive coordinator previously had done to what maybe Alex might want to do. But at the same time, they're utilizing their players in a very good way. They have athletesthat canget the football in space. They're finding creative ways in the run game to hit explosive plays. And I know maybe they're not as consistent as they'd like to be in the run game, but they're also very dangerous in the run game because they've created explosive plays in just about every football game. When they do get out in space with those running backs, they can hit home runs. So, we'll look at and try to anticipate what we think that they're going to do, maybe that might be slightly different tweaks. We're certainly going to prepare for the things that they have put on film already. And then again, you might carry one or two more things in terms of volume, defensively, just if they want to go this direction or that direction. But that's the nice thing about going into Week 9-10, including by weeks, right? We have a large volume of defense that we can go and adjust to based off of whatever we're seeing in that week's game.”

On Dijon Lee:

"Young players in big moments, some of it is just overcoming the moment. The thing about Dijon, I mean, the very first play of his college career against Florida State, he gives up a big bomb. You know, you see some guys that can wreck him for weeks on end, and he just went right back to work and has made plays. He has made plays on deep balls downfield. Has made plays on situational downs for us. I think he's very physical in his presence in the run game. I think he's continuing to just sharpen his tools in terms of what he's doing fundamentally. He has a much better understanding of what we're doing schematically. He's a great communicator for a freshman out there on the field. I think he does a really good job communicating with the linebackers and safeties out there. And so, he is taking the steps in the right direction that you would want for a young starting corner to take.”

On Yhonzae Pierre:

I think Yhonzae is taking the steps in the right direction and just becoming a more consistent football player, down in and down out. You see some of the production in the passing game and his ability to affect the quarterback. In large part, you look at the Tennessee game, his sacks were because he was doing his job. When you just do your job consistently at a high level, you're going to create more production for yourself. It's fun to watch Yhonzae and the maturity, how he has grown over the last year and a half, two years here I've spent with him. He's got a very impressive skill set. You watch a guy, when they do their job more consistently and they're rewarded through production, there's a confidence you start seeing a player play with, and I think you're seeing that from Yhonzae right now in terms of the confidence he is starting to play with. There's a confidence in a number of our guys we're starting to see. I've told our players, 'That's an earned confidence. You've earned that confidence to overcome adversity, to go create production, to go do your job at a high level.' We've got to continue to see that. You asked a question about Qua Russaw. Qua is doing a really good job right now. Our training staff has done a tremendous job with him and preparing him to get back as soon as possible. He has done a great job of pushing and his hitting all the markers he needs to hit. Certainly, we anticipate him to be back sooner than later."

On Garrett Nussmeier and LSU's RPO game:

"I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of how efficient they are in the RPO game. The perimeter screens and the throws downfield and the vertical slant glance game as well is an extension of their run game. Sometimes you look at it and you go "they're only running the ball for this" yeah but they're doing things in the run game to open things up in the passing game. The RPO game. So those are things he's navigating them really well. He's making really good decisions in terms of handing the run off or throwing the RPO based on the numbers he is seeing in the box or the rotations and leverages he's seeing right now and you can tell he's very confident in knowing where to go with the ball and that's allowing them to be pretty efficient offensively."