While Indiana football prepares for a new era under head coach Curt Cignetti, several of its past coaching stars are doing the same at one of college football’s powerhouses.
Former Indiana football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who was in Bloomington from 2018-2020, has accepted the same position at the University of Alabama.
Wommack left his perch as the University of South Alabama’s head coach to join another former Indiana assistant – Kalen DeBoer, the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator in 2019, who was hired as Alabama’s head football coach on Jan. 12 after Nick Saban’s retirement.
Wommack went 22-16 in his three seasons at South Alabama, highlighted by a 10-3 campaign in 2022. The Jaguars went 7-6 this past season with a 59-10 victory over Eastern Michigan University in the LendingTree Bowl.
In Tuscaloosa, Wommack will replace defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who retired after this past season.
DeBoer also hired another former Indiana assistant at Alabama, bringing tight end’s coach Nick Sheridan from the University of Washington to Tuscaloosa. Sheridan was the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator after DeBoer’s departure but was fired after the 2021 season, later re-joining DeBoer in Seattle.
Wommack and DeBoer were together in Bloomington for just one season – 2019, during which Indiana won eight games for the first time since 1993. This helped lay the foundation for the Hoosiers’ 6-2 season in 2020, with their 75%-win rate tied for the fifth-best mark in program history.
Bloomington and Tuscaloosa are separated by over 500 miles – but when the Crimson Tide takes the field in 2024, they’ll have a strong Hoosier presence on the sideline.
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.
