Indiana on Monday formally welcomed Kane Wommack as the 10th full-time member of its coaching staff. The 10th coaching position is now allowed per NCAA rules.
According to a release from the program, Wommack will coach IU's linebackers.
"Kane is one of the bright, young coaches in our profession. He has done a tremendous job as a defensive coordinator at two different stops," IU head coach Tom Allen said in a statement. "I have a strong relationship with his family, but more importantly, he is an excellent football coach. Kane is the kind of person that I want in our program mentoring our young men and that will represent Indiana University in an excellent way. He is a guy that I know and trust, and I am very excited to have him join the IU Football family."
With Wommack taking over coaching duties for IU's linebackers, former linebackers coach William Inge will transition to coaching special teams full-time.
"Special teams play is a huge priority in our program. We needed someone to take ownership of all of our special teams units and Coach Inge is the man for the job," Allen said. "It's a great opportunity for him to become a coordinator and oversee an area that I believe changes the game."
Wommack joins the Hoosiers after spending the previous two seasons as South Alabama's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Wommack was an Ole Miss graduate assistant in 2012-13 when Allen was linebackers coach under defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, Kane's father.
"Tom Allen has been an awesome mentor," Wommack said in the same statement. "We have risen through the ranks together as defensive coordinators and I am thrilled to be reunited with him once again. I am ready to get started and excited to be a Hoosier."
Like Allen, Wommack is known for putting together defensive turnarounds.
During Wommack's two seasons, South Alabama allowed 10.8 fewer points per game and 69.2 fewer rushing yards per game, good for 13th-most improved nationally. In 2016, Wommack engineered one of the top turnarounds in the country by making South Alabama fifth-most improved nationally in scoring defense (-10.3), one spot behind the Hoosiers, and ranked in the top 10 nationally in passing defense.
A former Arkansas fullback and Southern Miss tight end, Wommack graduated from Southern Miss with a degree in political science in 2009 then spent a season with the program as a volunteer assistant coach working with its offensive line. Following that stint, he spent a year coaching Tennessee-Martin's quarterbacks in 2010, then spent a season coaching Jacksonville State's defensive line before connecting with Allen at Ole Miss in 2012.
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