West Virginia football and the Big 12 conference might be seen by many as a step down from Oklahoma football and the SEC -- but that wasn’t the case for the Mountaineers’ defensive coordinator Zac Alley.
In what was new head coach Rich Rodriguez’s first real power move during his second tenure with the program, he managed to snag sitting Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley and lure him to Morgantown. And Alley will be paid handsomely for the job, as he signed a four-year contract worth $1.5 million per year with additional incentives built-in based upon the team’s performance.
Alley opened up about the move on a recent episode of 3 Guys Before the Game from MetroNews, calling the choice a “really tough decision.” What helped was Alley’s belief that West Virginia has potential to be a real national contender in the sport.
🔥 A brand new defense.
— TonyCaridi (@TonyCaridi) June 11, 2025
🧠 A new coordinator.
👀 An almost entirely new roster.
How will it work for @WVUfootball?
We asked the man in charge — @CoachZAlley — and he didn’t hold back.
🎧 Full convo with @bradhowe07 & @HoppyKercheval on @3Guys__:
👇https://t.co/dIxbcknyU6 pic.twitter.com/TRv0lNzF8c
“I believe that West Virginia is a sleeping giant in college football. You know, the support of people, they love it, it matters. I really felt like it was just going to be, the right guy had to come back and get the energy and get the people involved,” Alley responded when asked why the move made sense.
“We’ve got all the tools we need to be successful, obviously we’ve still got a long way to go, but I felt that from [Rich Rodriguez’s] first press conference on, that it was a special place and he’s the right type of dude to come in here and change things. So I’m excited, and that’s really that excitement that led me to come back and want to work for him.”
When Alley mentioned “coming back” he isn’t referring to Morgantown -- this will be his first stint with the Mountaineers. Rather, he is talking about reuniting with Rodriguez, as Alley served as defensive coordinator for two seasons at Jacksonville State under Rodriguez. During that stint the Gamecocks went 9-2 in 2022 and won the Atlantic Sun Conference in the program’s final FCS season, followed by a 9-4 season in 2023 capped by a victorious trip to the New Orleans Bowl in their first FBS season.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Rod, I love him to death,” Alley said. “I knew exactly how it was to be around him, work for him, have him be the head coach, because I experienced it for two years at Jacksonville.”