It would have been easy for Alabama at the end of last season to self-assess and determine that they took a step forward from 2024 to 2025. They did in terms of results: winning 11 games, making the SEC Championship Game, getting into the College Football Playoff, and even winning a game on the road against Oklahoma, becoming the first program to do that.
As embarrassing as the losses to Georgia and Indiana were in the postseason, they were for the best. The way those losses happened left little room for ambiguity: Alabama had a problem, and they needed to get it fixed to build the program back into a National Championship contender.
That problem was in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Alabama couldn't block well enough on offense and couldn't shed blocks or get enough of a push on defense. While the offensive line issues were obvious, the Crimson Tide also wanted to get bigger up front on the defensive line. It would have been easy for Kane Wommack to look at his defense and tell Kalen DeBoer that he thought they were good; the defense has been good in each of Wommack's first two seasons. It just hasn't been great, which is what they are striving to be.
In order to be great, they had to improve the defensive line. They had to get bigger, stronger, and more physical. In a rare moment of candor for a coach, Wommack revealed a difficult truth after practice on Friday when speaking to the media.
“The truth is we got moved around some for the last two years here," Wommack said. "That was an area where, we’ve done some good things defensively here; at times, I think we’ve been really good, but to be a dominant defense, you have to have guys up front that can make a difference.”
Kane Wommack had no trouble admitting Alabama's biggest flaw defensively
DeBoer and his staff's willingness to self-assess this offseason should provide confidence in the direction of the program. They weren't satisfied with just making the College Football Playoff. They know that more is expected in Tuscaloosa.
All reports out of practice so far this fall have been that the Crimson Tide looks noticeably bigger up front. The additions out of the Transfer Portal of Devan Thompkins, Terrance Green, and Kedrick Bingley-Jones were critical. In conjunction with returners like London Simmons, Edric Hill, Jeremiah Beaman, Isaia Faga, and Steve Bolo Mboumoua, along with some impressive-looking freshmen, this defensive line has the chance to be a lot better than some people think.
Getting bigger and more physical was the priority of the offseason. Wommack believes Alabama accomplished that.
“I think we have improved our physicality up front," Wommack said. "I think we have improved in our consistency as a defensive line. And then simply, we’ve gotten bigger. The last two years here, we’ve been 14th in the SEC in D-Line frames up front. I think this year now we’re fourth or fifth. We have worked really hard to get ourselves back in a position where we can be a big, physical defensive line.”
Alabama fans will believe it all when they finally get to see it next month, but initial reports have been encouraging. So, too, is this staff's willingness to self-assess and course-correct. That's not an easy thing to do when you have as much success as the Crimson Tide had a season ago, but it's necessary if you want to take the step from good to great and get the program back to being a real contender for the national title.
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