Kane Wommack said that if it hadn’t been Alabama and hadn’t been Kalen DeBoer, he’d still be head coach at South Alabama.

Wommack officially left the Jaguars on Tuesday to become Crimson Tide defensive coordinator, joining the staff of his old friend DeBoer in Tuscaloosa. DeBoer and Wommack worked together at Indiana in 2019, DeBoer as offensive coordinator and Wommack as defensive coordinator.

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They are reunited five years later at Alabama, with DeBoer having taken over following the retirement of Nick Saban. The 36-year-old Wommack said it was a difficult decision to leave the Jaguars after three seasons, a 22-16 record and the program’s first bowl victory, but felt like it was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.

“There are very few things that could have pulled me away from the head coaching job at South Alabama, because I love the City of Mobile,” Wommack said “I love this university, love these players and believe in what can be accomplished here, knowing that our best days are still ahead of us. But this was one I couldn’t avoid.

“People across the country know that what happens in Tuscaloosa is special and the opportunity to do it with one of my best friends in this profession and someone that I trust immensely and believe in as a person and as a coach, I couldn’t pass on that opportunity to do it with the best in the country.”

Wommack said his hiring by Alabama came together in less than 24 hours, and he informed his coaching staff late Monday of his decision. He then informed the players and everyone else associated with the program in a hastily called team meeting on Tuesday morning at the South Alabama football facility.

After meeting with the team and speaking briefly to reporters, Wommack did his final exit interview with South Alabama athletics director Joel Erdmann. Then it was off to Tuscaloosa, where he’ll begin helping DeBoer and the rest of the staff trying to keep together an Alabama roster that has been hit hard by the transfer portal.

“I think people get into this profession knowing and understanding what it is and that it’s very hard,” Wommack said. “The hardest thing about the profession in transitions like this is that you never get to take the time to really acknowledge and appreciate what each person means individually because it moves too fast. And so, because of that, there’s just an understanding of college football. You get into this thing because you’re a competitor and you want to do things at a high level. And that also means dealing with some of the hardships and stresses and this is one of them. … But they were incredibly supportive.

“You want to talk to every single person individually and that’s just not possible when my focus has to shift very quickly to making sure we (Alabama) can … put us in a position to where we can maximize our roster right now and get a staff in place and make sure that we retain that our players. Those things have to happen on a very fast timeline.”

Wommack’s name first surfaced publicly in connection with the Alabama job around midday Monday, and first reports that he’d accepted the position came at around 9:30 p.m. It was widely reported that DeBoer unsuccessfully tried first to retain Travaris Robinson — the former Alabama defensive backs coach who was hired as Georgia’s co-defensive coordinator — before zeroing in on Wommack.

Wommack said once DeBoer offered him the job, he didn’t wait long to accept.

“I think if you understand Kalen DeBoer, who he is as a man, who he is as a coach, the confidence that you feel being around him, that we’re going to get the job done, it was a very easy decision from that part,” Wommack said. “It was hard, but the decision to do it with Kalen De Boer at Alabama was easy. We’re talking on the phone yesterday, I answered the phone, he says, ‘are you ready for this?’ and then offers the job and I felt the excitement in his voice.

“I knew that him and I have been working for an opportunity like this and we always dreamed about doing it together and had no idea that this would be the opportunity, but it just feels like the stars have aligned for a number of us to go do something really special at Alabama.”

South Alabama is expected to move quickly on its search to replace Wommack, with the late signing period in three weeks and the transfer portal re-opening for Jaguars players because their coach left to take another job (as is also the case at Alabama). Athletics director Joel Erdmann promised an “open search” that would consider all candidates, but also one that would be conducted “as fast as possible” what also being sure “we’re making the right decision.”

Erdmann would not identify any candidates, but current South Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite — the former head coach at Houston — is almost certainly going to be on the short list. Other coaches who could get consideration include former UAB coach Bill Clark, Alabama defensive line coach (and former South Alabama assistant) Freddie Roach, Baltimore Ravens assistant (and Mobile native) Tee Martin, Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez, former Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, Texas A&M assistant (and former Auburn assistant) Trooper Taylor and North Alabama coach (and Mobile native) Brent Dearmon.

It’s an unusual position for the Jaguars, with a head coach who left voluntarily for another job. Erdmann said he wasn’t troubled that Wommack would leave South Alabama for a coordinator position, and while he made an effort to retain the coach, he realized quickly Wommack’s mind was made up.

“Considering where it’s at and the relationship he has with coach DeBoer that was pre-existing, you’ve got tight relationship along with Alabama tradition and history and I can understand,” Erdmann said. “… I think it was the opportunity was attractive to the point it was going to happen.”

Wommack is the son of Dave Wommack, a longtime defensive coordinator at schools such as Arkansas, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Southern Miss. Kane was previously defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois (2014-15), South Alabama (2016-17) and Indiana (2018-2020), where in his final season he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football (ironically, Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian — now head coach at Texas — won the Broyles that year).

Wommack is expected to earn more than $2 million per year as Alabama’s defensive coordinator, easily more than double his $810,000 salary at South Alabama. More importantly, he’ll get the opportunity to coach a roster full of 4- and 5-star recruits.

“The greatness of college football lies in the reward and the consequence of winning and losing is losing coaches and players and all those things,” Wommack said. “And so, to know that you had enough of an impact that people care on your way out is something I appreciate.

“When I looked at this opportunity, what Alabama football means to college football and the resources and expectation and players that you have an opportunity to coach — my dad went 38 years in his career, had the some of the best defenses in the country and never had an opportunity to coach players of the caliber that I’m getting ready to coach day-in and day-out. And to do it with somebody that I believe in and trust, that I’m excited to go work alongside every single day, is an opportunity I could not pass up.”