There's been a lot of scrutiny on West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley over the past couple of weeks, with the Mountaineers giving up 86 points and nearly 1,200 yards of total offense in the team's back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Iowa State.
Some fans were even calling for Alley's job after the loss, and if things don't change soon, you could argue that it would be a fair move to make. But he is still with the team and calling the defensive plays as the Arizona game approaches this weekend. And to his credit, he understands that what has happened over the past two isn't going to cut the mustard.
#WVU ranks dead last among P4 teams in total defense (491.3 yards per game). They rank 133rd nationally, sitting ahead of only Southern Miss, Colorado State, Ball State, Missouri State, and UL Monroe.
— Schuyler Callihan (@Callihan_) October 4, 2026
Zac Alley on his defense: 'It ain't f****** worked.'
OnTuesday during the weekly press conference, Zac Alley was asked about simplifying the defense heading into the Arizona game. He admitted that some sort of change is going to have to come on that front, and he wasn't holding anything back when it came to critiquing his offense so far.
"It's not that hard this week. I think we're the worst defense in college football. It's pretty simple to say that it ain't fucking worked. I don't plan to keep doing the same thing over and over again. That seems like insanity."
Alley on if it's hard for him to simplify things: "It's not that hard this week. I think we're the worst defense in college football. It's pretty simple to say that it ain't fucking worked. I don't plan to keep doing the same thing over and over again. That seems like insanity."
— Schuyler Callihan (@Callihan_) October 6, 2026
While Alley's defense certainly hasn't been acceptable as of late, but his fiery attitude about it is a bit refreshing after the Neal Brown era. It's hard to imagine a coach during that six-year period of the program being this upset about their own performance, and being open that he knows something has to change.
That's what you like to hear from a coach in his situation, and it does offer some hope that the Mountaineers will get things fixed defensively. It's beginning to feel like the players are just a bit lost when it comes to making Alley's defense work, and Rodriguez mentioned Tuesday that he thinks that that the defense might attempting to do too much.
So if Alley is finally commiting to simplifying things a bit and focusing on finding a simpler strategy that allows the defense to play to it's strengths, that could be the solution needed for the current problem.
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