Rodriguez Announces Alley as Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (December 29, 2024) – West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez has announced the hiring of Zac Alley as the Mountaineers’ assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
“Zac is one of the top young defensive coordinators in the country and has proven his ability to lead and be an innovator at different stops during his career,” Rodriguez said. “I have worked with him several seasons, and he constantly impresses me with his ability to blend schemes with his personnel and develop winning results. I look forward to him joining our staff and making an immediate impact for us.”
Alley rejoins Rodriguez after serving as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma this past season. He coached under Rodriguez at Jacksonville State in 2022-23 and at Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.
“I am excited to join coach Rodriguez and the West Virginia University football program,” Alley said. “I have tremendous respect for Coach Rod, as I've seen how he develops players and builds a program. I look forward to working with the players and doing my part to help WVU be one of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference and the nation.”
At Oklahoma in 2024, Alley helped lead the Sooners’ defense to a No. 3 ranking in defensive touchdowns, No. 5 in fumbles recovered, No. 10 in team tackles for loss, No. 11 in first-down defense, No. 19 in total defense, No. 23 in rushing defense, No. 25 in sacks and No. 30 in scoring defense.
One of Alley’s standouts, linebacker Danny Stutsman, earned NCAA Consensus All-American honors after leading the Sooners with 110 tackles, including a team-high 44 solo stops, for an average of 9.2 tackles per game with eight tackles for loss.
Alley coordinated a 2023 Jacksonville State defensive unit that ranked 33rd out of 133 teams in scoring defense (21.2 ppg) and 43rd in total defense (352.8 ypg), and helped the Gamecocks to a 9-4 record, a 6-2 Conference USA mark (third place) and New Orleans Bowl win over Louisiana.
Jax State also ranked fourth in the country in 2023 in opponent yards per rush (2.8), eighth in tackles for loss yardage (414), ninth in turnovers gained (25), 10th in interceptions (16), 12th in opponent yards per play (4.8), 13th in sacks per game (2.9) and15th in rushing defense (111.5 ypg).
In his first year at Jacksonville State in 2022, Alley presided over a stingy defense that helped the Gamecocks amass a 9-2 record and a 5-0 league mark en route to the Atlantic Sun Conference championship.
Alley was the youngest defensive coordinator in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision when he took over at ULM in spring of 2021 at the age of 27. A member of 247Sports' "30 Under 30" list, Alley joined the Warhawks after a 0-10 season in 2020 and helped lead them to four victories. Under his direction, the Warhawks improved in virtually every defensive statistical category from the previous season, including going from No. 125 in rushing defense before his arrival to No. 69.
Prior to ULM, he served as Boise State's co-special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2019-20. He helped the Broncos to a 17-4 record in those two seasons, which included a 13-game win streak in Mountain West Conference play. In 2020, FootballScoop.com named Alley one of its special teams coordinators of the year.
He also served a defensive coaching internship with the NFL's Carolina Panthers in the spring of 2017, assisting the linebackers coach.
Alley served four years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 (.932) record and won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and two national championships (2016 and 2018).
He started working as a student assistant at Clemson as a freshman in 2011 and spent four years in that role. He earned his bachelor's degree in business management in 2014 and his master's degree in human resource development in 2017.
