Alabama DC Kane Wommack gives a concerning statement about the Crimson Tide's defensive line after Saturday's scrimmage

The upcoming college football season is a pivotal one for the Alabama Crimson Tide and their new coach, Kalen DeBoer. It's the first time in 17 years that they will be without the legendary Nick Saban on the sideline and will have to prove that they still belong with the elites of college football.

After the Tide's first scrimmage on Saturday, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack had a concerning message about the defense's performance during his news conference.

“I thought early on the offense did a really good job,” Wommack said. “We’ve challenged our guys to be able to respond early in games. That’s hard for a defense because when you think about it an offense is working all week long, right? They’ve got a game plan.

“I thought our tackling was just OK. We’re running to the ball probably as good as I’ve seen since we’ve been here, but I think overall from a tackling standpoint, those are things that you got to get better at from scrimmage one to scrimmage two.”

Alabama will hold its second scrimmage on Saturday and the final scrimmage the week after, on Aug. 24, before the season without the retired Nick Saban begins in earnest.

Alabama weakness pointed out by retired Nick Saban

Retired Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban is a legend of the program after winning six national championships with the team. His new job as an analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network demands impartial views, and he gave Tide fans just that recently.

During the just-concluded SEC media days last month, Saban picked coach Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs and coach Steve Sarkisian's Texas Longhorns to make the Southeastern Conference championship game instead of his former team.

He pointed out the weaknesses that his former team still possesses which gave him concern for the coming season.

“I believe in our Alabama team, too, and I believe in (quarterback) Jalen Milroe. … I just think the question marks in the secondary, until those get resolved, it’s hard to sort of jump on that bandwagon,” Saban said.

Coach Kalen DeBoer has his work cut out for him in a stronger SEC after the arrival of the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners and will have to prove his mettle in the toughest possible environment.

All eyes will be on the Alabama Crimson Tide to see whether they can overcome the defensive deficiencies indicated by defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and move on from the Nick Saban era.