Everything Kane Wommack Said Ahead of Alabama's Rematch with Vanderbilt

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack addressed media members on Monday prior to the No. 10 Crimson Tide's upcoming game against No. 16 Vanderbilt, which beat Alabama 40-35 in Nashville last season. A full transcript, as well as a full video from the press conference, is below.

Opening Statement:

“Looking back on the game on Saturday, certainly proud of the effort of our players, a sense of urgency to lock your jaw and handle adversity. We did that well. We faced some early adversity in the game, couple of explosive plays we gave up, and I thought our players stayed very locked in. Our sideline was fantastic in terms of just how locked in our players were; the communication between players and coaches is what a sideline should look like, and I thought we took steps in the right direction there. We said we wanted to handle their perimeter game; that was something they had done a really good job of. I think we talked them in and out of a lot of different things off the perimeter, just with pre-snap alignments. So, for the most part we did a pretty good job there. But one of the things we had to say, that we talked about, is the key to victory was when the ball declares, we’ve got to take the air out of the ball, and I thought on the interior run fits for the most part we did that, but the ball rolled off the edge and created six explosive plays for 171 yards. Outside of that, we had 26 rushes for 55 yards, so they averaged 2.1 yards in those 26 plays. But those six rushes that the ball got outside on us and we didn’t take the air out of the ball and gave really good athletes space to make a play. We didn’t finish. That’s unacceptable. We’ve got to get those things fixed. In the SEC, you have to answer for the things that you put on tape, and we are certainly going to answer for those things. And then our last key to victory was we had to get the ball back for our offense, and certainly tremendous job with our offense in the way they’re moving the ball and what Ty [Simpson] is doing right now with the ball and executing it, so we’ve got to get the ball back for him. So, we were able to do that predominantly on third downs, we were able to create a fourth-down stop and also, we were able to create a takeaway where we got the ball down in the red zone. So, some really good things in that regard. This is a very, very tough league that you have to show up for every single week. We have a tremendous opponent in Vanderbilt. The things that you put on tape, you are going to have to go answer for as the season goes on. There's been some good things that we’ve put on tape, but there's been some things we’re going to have to go respond to, and things that we are going to have to show we can do a better job. We let a fake reverse the other night affect us. That was something we had worked extensively in practice and had two guys who didn’t do the right thing. So those are the things we've gotta show that we're more consistent in the way we take our practice to execution on game day. Looking ahead to Vanderbilt, I think this is a fantastic football team. I think they are playing highly efficient right now on offense. I think they have a great identity in terms of how they play team football. Diego Pavia is an exceptional football player. I think he has gone from being a really good playmaker to an elite quarterback. Until you turn on the tape, you don’t realize how much improvement you have seen from him from last year to this year. It’s really exceptional the work he has put in, the work their coaching staff has put in, to make him an elite quarterback relevant to the SEC stage is impressive. He's completing almost 75 percent of his passes. They've created 53 explosive plays on offense through five games, which is exceptional. He's also their leading rusher. They've got some dynamic threats. Their receivers are going up and making plays on the ball. Their tight end is very dynamic, Eli Stowers, who's their leading receiver right now. Just highly efficient on offense, and the way they're operating. They have a ton of confidence, and this will be a tremendous challenge for us defensively. So, we’re excited for the opportunity and ready for the week of work.”

On Justin Hill and Yhonzae Pierre:

"I’m very proud of Yhonzae Pierre and Justin Hill. It’s a lot to ask for a true freshman [Hill] to come in and compete, especially in a road SEC game. He had been getting a lot of reps in practice, but certainly we did not anticipate him playing, whatever it was, 23, 24 snaps in the game, and he did a really good job there going in. He was very physical at the point of attack, made some huge block-destruction plays on their tight ends. I think Georgia has a very good tight end corp. And so, I’m pleased with him, pleased with Yhonzae Pierre. Yhonzae, I talked about him in the offseason, he just keeps getting better and better, his ability to affect the run game and generate some pass rush for us has shown up so far this season. But we’re going to have to be creative in the way that we develop other people in certain packages to make sure that we have enough depth. That’s really the name of the game, right; how do you, each week handle your personnel to be able to create as much depth as you can for the next week's opponent? Certainly, when you lose two experienced players like we did, that’s a challenge.”

On eye discipline:

"It hasn’t stopped being a point of emphasis all of last season. And I thought we improved last season as the year went on in terms of the lack of discipline, particularly in the quarterback read game. So when you look at option-style football, right, there’s a sequence of reads that go on from the quarterback position that he’s looking from this position to that position. If your eyes and feet are not in the right place, right, then all of the rest of the play breaks down. And so that’s something I think we have improved in certain areas, but you look at the game last year, you look at some of the things that we had issues with that. Really more, it was less eye discipline against Florida State. It was more gap continuity, guys jumping out of a gap at the last second, thinking that the ball’s going to commit outside and all of a sudden, we jump out and the ball goes inside. So it was probably more gap continuity against Florida State than it was eye discipline. But that will be a huge emphasis for us in terms of what we’ve got to do. If you look back at last season, even given the explosive plays that we gave up in the run game, we gave up 3 yards per carry overall, which obviously if you do that over the course of the season, that’s good rushing defense. But we cannot allow, you know, four, five, six explosive plays to dictate how the rushing game went, which is exactly how it went at Georgia the other night, if you look at those six explosive plays that we gave up."

On a postgame moment with Ty Simpson:

“I’ve known Ty since he was six years old. And so, certainly, this is a team that I think is playing with an edge right now. I think Ty is a huge piece to us playing with an edge. I think defensively we’re playing more with an edge. So, when you go do the things, and you put the things on tape against Florida State, and then have to go answer the bell like we have the last few weeks and get a road win in the SEC, it was a good moment, a special moment between him and I. He’s a fighter and a leader for our football team. And I just wanted to let him know I recognize and appreciate all the work that he’s put in to give us a chance to go and respond and win on the road. Those are special moments and you appreciate those things. "

On Vanderbilt's returning players:

“When you look at this team, yeah you have a lot of similar players from what we saw a year ago. I think they have evolved. I think we have evolved significantly from where we were schematically, fundamentally. We’re different from where we were last season because I think good teams adjust to their personnel and I think we have adjusted to out personnel and what we have defensively. They have done a great job adjusting to their personnel and developing their personnel. They are a very different offense from what they were a year ago because of the things Diego [Pavia] is doing in the passing game in particular. It’s impressive how much he has improved as an overall quarterback."

On Edric Hill:

“Edric played, he played physical and played hard in the game, which I think really has been a marker of all of our guys. We played timid and on our heels in Week 1 and, to this point, we have identified that and kind of rectified that a little bit in terms of the effort we are playing with. Particularly when you are an interior D-lineman, it’s natural, when the ball’s on the perimeter and thrown downfield not to naturally burst to the ball. And I think Edric’s doing a great job of that along with a bunch of our interior defensive linemen. You know, some of that youthful interior D-line is critical. It was an area of concern going into the season, right, that we had youthful players on the interior that were going to have to step up for us. But then, all of a sudden, you lose Tim Keenan. And Jeremiah Beaman goes down, which makes for a very difficult situation. And I think the guys have done a really great job of straining int he week of practice to prepare themselves to give an opportunity on game day. And I think Edric played well the other night."

On players who have improved the most in pass rush:

"I think Yhonzae Pierre has consistently gotten better as a pass rusher. That's one area that I'm, we need. I'm excited about some of the things that he gives us from a pass-rush standpoint. I think LT Overton from where he was a year ago in generating quarterback hurries to being able to finish in the backfield, not only on the quarterback, but he's also finished in the backfield on a number of run plays as well. Those are areas that I think that we are improving as a defense. I've gotta find, continue to find creative ways to generate pass rush. I thought we were able to do that at a much higher level the last few weeks, and certainly last week against Georgia. We were able to affect the quarterback and thus get off the field on third down. Those are gonna be critical things for us moving forward... The other guy that I'll tell you is, Deontae Lawson was doing a really good job as a pass rusher. We're doing some things with him that we did with Jihaad Campbell a year ago. He's generating some pass rush, so, give D-Law a little love there."

On whether there's a pride factor on defense after Vanderbilt's win last season:

"If you have pride in the way you play defensively, this is a very, very good SEC opponent. Certainly, you're always gonna be aware of what a team did last year against you and how that matches up. They're a new offense. They're a new football team. We're a new defense. We're a different defense. There's gonna be certain carryover, I would imagine. We took a punch on the road in week one and I think that we've got an edge to our football team right now in the way that we're preparing and the way we're playing. My job as the coordinator is to keep us on that edge as a defense. I think that's the way that we're gonna play on Saturday."

On young players and trust in them:

"We're playing a number of players from a defensive standpoint. Some of that, right, are situations where, barring injury, a guy has to step up in his role, and that's something that, credit to our coaching staff for getting some younger players ready to go in those moments. I think we do have a number of players, but there's not a guy on our defense that's playing perfect right now. Everybody is making mistakes; everybody has things that they need to fix and improve upon. But I told our guys, 'Good teams improve.' That can be for older players like Tim Keenan and Deontae Lawson. That can be for younger players like Justin Hill, that just had more snaps than he probably anticipated playing in Athens. Good teams improve. If we will have a sense of urgency to improve, and you show those things in the week of practice, you get to participate on game day. I think that we've got a number of younger players that are doing that. Some guys on our two-deep that belong on the field and have earned reps for game day. To me, this will all come down to, as we navigate through SEC play, who improves the things that you put on tape from week one, two, three, four, and whatever this is right now, five for us but six overall, versus the teams that don't improve and fix the things that they need to. I think we're taking steps in the right direction right now, but that will be the key to success."