The most surprising part of Kalen DeBoer’s first season wasn’t the record Alabama football tallied. It was the games the Crimson Tide lost in 2024.

Alabama beat ranked teams such as Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina and LSU. But it also lost to the likes of Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Michigan. As a result, the Crimson Tide finished 9-4.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack spoke with reporters Friday after the third spring practice and shared why he thinks UA experienced inconsistency.

“I don’t think we handled success well as a team collectively, and I think that hurt us on the field,” Wommack said. “It obviously hurt us on the field. So those are the things that, you know, what you want to try and build in these young players is understanding that take the experiences you’ve had and apply them to have a sense of urgency. Not a panic, but a sense of urgency to attack every single rep over and over and over again. And I think that, to me, it what has kept us from being great a year ago.”

That inability to handle success put Alabama outside of the College Football Playoff. It sent the Crimson Tide to the ReliaQuest Bowl, where Alabama lost to a depleted and undermanned Michigan team of sorts.

“The biggest experience we can all gain from last season is, there has to be a sense of urgency to do the same high-level job every single day,” Wommack said. “I don’t think it was malicious by anybody from a standpoint of maybe you have a good day here and you’re focused here walking into this game vs. that game. When you have success, it should breed a sense of urgency to create more success for you.”

Alabama will conclude spring practices on Saturday, April 12 with A-Day.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.