The Film Guy breaks down Alabama's Defense 2025

[Bamabuzzard]

Link

He doesn't like our scheme, "too repetitive", "too easy to pick a part" , not "diverse" enough. But he loves the talent coming back. He said Wommack is going to have to diversify his defense more this season or there's going to be problems against several teams.

 

[MikeInBama]

I'm not a super deep X and O guy but maybe was due to youth/installing new system. I don't get paid 1.5 Million a year so surely if YouTube analyst sees this we've self scouted. He's also a UGA fan.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I'm not a super deep X and O guy but maybe was due to youth/installing new system. I don't get paid 1.5 Million a year so surely if YouTube analyst sees this we've self scouted. He's also a UGA fan.

Yeah, me neither. However, it could very well explain the Vanderbilt and Oklahoma debacles when these two offenses kept running the same things over and over, and we couldn't stop them. As you said, hopefully, we self-scout, and those who self-scout are objective enough to see any deficiencies in our schemes and correct them.

 

[Ledsteplin]

I would think we don't run the exact schemes from last year. I'm sure the staff have studied last year's films. They're bound to make changes and tweaks.

 

[Coach D]

I think this is basically what me and some others said all year about the scheme. The D has talent but how good this DC is will show this year. I still think looking better at the end of the year was playing worse teams vs a jump in performance. Hoping like offense its was vanilla.

 

[arthurdawg]

Time will tell... Wommack has plenty of experience as a DC, so I would hope he is on top of it.

Of course, on the flip side, we were so complicated under Saban that we seemed to have issues with guys who needed more developmental time than we had to give frequently.

 

[Tidewater]

Link

He doesn't like our scheme, "too repetitive", "too easy to pick a part" , not "diverse" enough. But he loves the talent coming back. He said Wommack is going to have to diversify his defense more this season or there's going to be problems against several teams.

My goodness, this guy likes to talk. He speaks like Clausewitz writes: not for brevity.
That said, I think he is right. More diversity of looks and more disguising would help.

 

[arthurdawg]

My goodness, this guy likes to talk. He speaks like Clausewitz writes: not for brevity.
That said, I think he is right. More diversity of looks and more disguising would help.

I hope year two and some continuity provide that.

 

[graydogg85]

I’m sure they have self-scouted; Wommack has alluded to additional pressure looks being necessary this season in his press statements. I also agree that last season was Year 1 of a pretty different scheme than what we had been running and I’m sure a full install wasn’t quite there.

I think I read somewhere that something like 60% of CFB runs a 4-2-5 base now so it’s not like we are running some fundamentally flawed scheme that hasn’t been successful elsewhere. Plus, statistically last season was our best season in like 8 years, and we were excellent with takeaways.

I like that this scheme lets the players “play” a little more and isn’t so complex that it requires elite talent and elite execution from every position on every snap like Saban’s 3-4 Under required. It’s not going to be as salty against the run as Saban’s system, and that’s partially by design as the scheme is generally content to give up some runs in favor of limiting explosive pass plays and generating turnovers. It’s pretty similar to Joe Kines’ old system in terms of approach.

 

[teamplayer]

I’m sure they have self-scouted; Wommack has alluded to additional pressure looks being necessary this season in his press statements. I also agree that last season was Year 1 of a pretty different scheme than what we had been running and I’m sure a full install wasn’t quite there.

I think I read somewhere that something like 60% of CFB runs a 4-2-5 base now so it’s not like we are running some fundamentally flawed scheme that hasn’t been successful elsewhere. Plus, statistically last season was our best season in like 8 years, and we were excellent with takeaways.

I like that this scheme lets the players “play” a little more and isn’t so complex that it requires elite talent and elite execution from every position on every snap like Saban’s 3-4 Under required. It’s not going to be as salty against the run as Saban’s system, and that’s partially by design as the scheme is generally content to give up some runs in favor of limiting explosive pass plays and generating turnovers. It’s pretty similar to Joe Kines’ old system in terms of approach.

I think being soft against the run killed us in all four losses. Those teams made a lot of small, tough runs and stayed in second and third and short situations. We never seemed to be able to get off the field when it mattered. Vandy, OU, and Michigan were all very average teams last year, yet they all controlled the line against us. We can't get pushed around on the line and have any championship aspirations.

 

[gtgilbert]

I’m sure they have self-scouted; Wommack has alluded to additional pressure looks being necessary this season in his press statements. I also agree that last season was Year 1 of a pretty different scheme than what we had been running and I’m sure a full install wasn’t quite there.

I think I read somewhere that something like 60% of CFB runs a 4-2-5 base now so it’s not like we are running some fundamentally flawed scheme that hasn’t been successful elsewhere. Plus, statistically last season was our best season in like 8 years, and we were excellent with takeaways.

I like that this scheme lets the players “play” a little more and isn’t so complex that it requires elite talent and elite execution from every position on every snap like Saban’s 3-4 Under required. It’s not going to be as salty against the run as Saban’s system, and that’s partially by design as the scheme is generally content to give up some runs in favor of limiting explosive pass plays and generating turnovers. It’s pretty similar to Joe Kines’ old system in terms of approach.

Even we ran a 4-2-5 nickel 83+% of the time, with another 13(ish) percent in dime. We ran the 3-4 less than 4% in 2023.

The change (and possible challenge) is about the assignments and play style much more so than the alignment and grouping.

 

[Coach D]

It’s not that it is a 4-2-5 it’s lining up the same way and not changing things up. It’s that 3rd you knew what we were doing. That’s on DC doing poorly even first year excuse. Speaking of self scouting, both offense and defense were terrible at that last year. That’s the worry.

But I’m trying to brush off first year coaching and going to watch this year with a clean view. Lots of talent on d so if we can get better at setting the edge and pass rushing then offenses watch out.

 

[arthurdawg]

I think being soft against the run killed us in all four losses. Those teams made a lot of small, tough runs and stayed in second and third and short situations. We never seemed to be able to get off the field when it mattered. Vandy, OU, and Michigan were all very average teams last year, yet they all controlled the line against us. We can't get pushed around on the line and have any championship aspirations.

Yes. I think part of this was that we had salty but not elite DL. We still need to develop quality depth at the interior spots that is bigger than we will probably have this year. We do have plenty of larger edge guys to use in a heavy package this year.

 

[rtr90]

Malzahn had great success running on Bama and seeing last years debacle dont have high hopes we can stop this

 

[Ledsteplin]

It looks like CKD is aware of what the defense is doing. At least in defending the run. He said this:
"So I mentioned Jam getting some good runs the first couple plays of the game. Obviously that meant there were some seams. The first drive in particular, some seams. So we've got to be ready to play. Gap integrity defensively."

 

[Bama Lee]

Malzahn had great success running on Bama and seeing last years debacle dont have high hopes we can stop this

Different defenses and players. Plus, Womack can use film from UCF and Auburn. Year two of a system change usually sees a lot of growth. We were 16th overall defense last year

 

[arthurdawg]

Different defenses and players. Plus, Womack can use film from UCF and Auburn. Year two of a system change usually sees a lot of growth. We were 16th overall defense last year

With the guys returning from that defense, new guys, having the system fully installed, and some self scouting we should be top ten. Just need to pull it all together. And don't discount having an offense that controls the ball and protects the D rather than handing it right back over or scoring in 2-3 plays. Our offense didn't grind anything out last year and we had way too many 3 and out / short drives. That really kills your defense.

(not against big offensive plays... but that was our MO last year...)