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TAMPA, Fla. — Kane Wommack brought his child-like holiday spirit with him to Tampa, Florida.
The Alabama football defensive coordinator couldn’t help it, especially with four members of his 2025 recruiting class already indoctrinated into the team and helping the Crimson Tide prepares for Tuesday’s meeting with Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
“It’s like I told our coaches the other day, ‘This is the closest thing I’ve felt to Christmas morning as a kid, to have new toys out there on the field to play with,'” Wommack said.
Nov 16, 2024; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack calls defensive plays during the game with Mercer at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama defeated Mercer 52-7. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News
Linebackers Luke Metz, Darrell “Duke” Johnson and Justin Hill, and safety Ivan Taylor are each in Tampa with Alabama practicing ahead of their official starts with the program in the spring, along with tight end Marshall Pritchett.
And none of the players, Wommack said, are solely bystanders.
“I mean we go right in, and they’re taking snaps day one,” Wommack said. “And then they’re going to the scout team and they’re taking snaps as well.”
Metz, Johnson, Taylor and Hill did not go into ReliaQuest Bowl practices “cold turkey,” in the words of Wommack. Each had an idea of what Alabama’s scheme looked like with coaches installing plays ahead of each player’s arrival during the season in the summer and even during last offseason.
To Wommack, those four players are exactly what he was looking for from a defensive recruit: athletic weapons who “look good in space, move well and can run.”
But unlike five-star cornerback Dijon Lee, four-star cornerback Chuck McDonald, four-star linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr. or three-star defensive lineman London Simmons — the Alabama high school…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-reliaquest-bowl-prep-christmas-100406736.html
Author : The Tuscaloosa News
Publish date : 2024-12-28 10:04:00
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