According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, current Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley will be leaving the Sooners to reunite with Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia. Alley was previously the defensive coordinator under Rodriguez at Jacksonville State before taking the job at Oklahoma this season, and he is in the process of finalizing a three-year deal with the Mountaineers.
The Sooners' defense were 19th in total yards allowed per game this season, giving up 318.2 yards per game, and 31st overall in total points allowed per game with 21.5 -- this contrasts sharply with the 415.3 yards per game and 31.9 points per game allowed by WVU this past season.
Sources: West Virginia is finalizing a three-year deal to make Zac Alley the school’s new defensive coordinator. He’s been the DC at Oklahoma and worked for Rich Rodriguez as DC at Jacksonville State.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 28, 2024
Alley first coached collegiately under current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables as a student assistant and grad assistant at Clemson, retiring after his high school career to begin gaining coaching experience immediately.
Alley worked under Venables to help coach two national championship winning defenses for the Tigers before earning the defensive coordinator at Louisiana-Monroe under Terry Bowden while Rodriguez helmed the offense. He would then follow Rodriguez to take the same position at Jacksonville State for two season before heading to Norman to spend a season with Venables.