Kane Wommack finds himself in the middle of a whirlwind.
As he wraps up his final week as the Indiana Hoosiers defensive coordinator, the recently hired University of South Alabama head coach is trying to finalize his staff and recruiting with the Jaguars all while trying to get the Hoosiers prepared for an explosive Ole Miss offense in the 35th Annual Outback Bowl, which will be played Jan. 2 in Tampa, Fla.
For Wommack, the game is not only against a familiar foe in the Rebels, but it will end a three-year relationship with Indiana head coach Tom Allen, a man he has leaned on heavily and learned much from during his time in Bloomington.
“There’s not been a lot of time for reflection due to everything that’s going on. It is a very special time and when I put my head on the pillow at night and Melissa and I talk about how special Bloomington and this program is,” Wommack told the media Monday.
According to Indiana safeties coach Jason Jones, Wommack is a major reason why the Indiana program is so special.
“Kane means a lot to the defense and to IU and the football program and coaching staff. He’s done a great job since he’s been here, came in and implemented certain things on defense and guys have bought in. From day one, recruiting well and finding right guys to run his defense and now you see what has happened over the years. He’s been great, done a great job we are all excited for him and he will go there and do a great job. He is sharp, is a player’s coach and full of energy every day. We are going to miss him but excited for him,” Jones said.
As for Saturday’s game against the Rebels, Wommack knows the program extremely well, growing up in Mississippi and having served as an assistant with his father, Dave, prior to arriving at Indiana. He told the media this week he believes he and those who were with him left Ole Miss better than they found it after the 2013 season.
"The experiences we had at Ole Miss is something we carry for rest of our careers and you have to understand those things we did are a piece of what we do here at Indiana. Credit to Hugh Freeze and culture we were able to build there and lessons we learned positive and adversity we went through to make us a better program here at Indiana. This is about our players and connecting to them and finishing well with them. We want to finish well and take this program moving well into 2021. Winning this bowl game and taking care of business is big part of our success moving forward," Wommack said.
In order to win the Outback Bowl, Wommack is tasked with coming up with a defense that will not only stop but confuse Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral and a running game that carved through Southeastern Conference defenses this season.
“The game will be won or lost in our ability to force them to be one dimensional. They are committed to running the ball. They do a great job of establishing the run to set up the deep ball, and we have to stop the run and quarterback scrambles, create pressure and when we get to Corral, get him down,” Wommack said.
Corral has led an offense that was top in the Southeastern Conference and third in the country in total offense, averaging 562.4 yards per contest. The Rebels averaged 40.7 points per game, and of its total yards, almost 350 yards a game are coming way of the air.
On the season, Corral has passed for 2,995 yards, 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In a 53-48 loss to LSU in the regular season finale, Corral threw five interceptions and had a fumble, but he also torched the Tigers for 251 yards in the air.
Wide receiver Elijah Moore has opted out to get ready for the NFL Draft. In six games, Moore had 100 or more yards receiving and he went for 225 yards or more three times. Tight end Kenny Yeboah has also opted out. On the season, he caught 27 balls for 524 yards and six touchdowns.
Injury-wise, wide receiver Braylon Sanders and running back Jerrion Ealy both missed time in the regular season finale against LSU with injuries.
Ealy has 745 yards on 147 touches this season, while Sanders has 15 receptions for an average of 25 yards per catch.
Wommack admitted he is not focused so much on who will not be suited up for the Rebels as much as he is developing a gameplan that can stop whoever is on the field.
“They have other guys they can get the ball to. I thought the LSU game was a great example of not having guys and featuring other players who could get the job done. I go back to that LSU game and you have two featured players not in that game and they found ways to get other guys into that game. We have a plan, but they have a long list of explosive playmakers they can get the ball to, and you have to be prepared for it,” Wommack said.
On the season, Indiana has allowed just over 19 points per game, while recording a total of 20 takeaways. In addition, the Hoosiers have notched 23 sacks on the season, with those coming from multiple players at various positions on the field.
Wommack previously admitted he does believe there are some wrinkles in the Indiana defense that will help the Hoosiers.
“I do think, structurally, there’s some things that we do that we can take advantage of when I’m seeing them on film to this point. We are a hungry defense and we’ve got a group of guys that really believe in one another and believe in their abilities to make plays both individually and collectively,” Wommack said.
And as the sun begins to set on his tenure at Indiana, Wommack notes he will take parts of what he learned at Indiana with him next season to Mobile, Ala. and the University of South Alabama, with the biggest being the Love Every One (LEO) mindset that Allen brought with him four years ago.
“I believe that is heartbeat of our program and LEO is something that is often misunderstood in college football. It is way in which we care about each other. It is a mindset where it is not about me and that is hard to instill in young men. I asked Tom is that was something I could carry on and it is something that is needed. To consider the needs of others over yourself is a quality we need to be able to instill in our young men and create better cultures in our football programs and young men in our communities,” Wommack said.
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