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WVU hires Zac Alley as defensive coordinator

New West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez has his pick for defensive coordinator.

WVU announced Sunday that Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley will join the Mountaineers as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. ESPN reported Saturday it would be a three-year deal.

Alley spent 2022-23 as Rodriguez’s defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State before spending this past season as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Brent Venables and the Sooners.

This year, the Sooners tied for 30th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in allowing 21.5 points per game, highlighted by holding Alabama to just three points in a 24-3 win. Oklahoma was also 19th nationally in allowing just 318.2 yards per game.

In his last season at Jacksonville State, the Gamecocks were a top-50 defense in both points (33rd at 21.2 points per game) and yards (43rd at 352.8 yards per game) allowed.

The Mountaineers are in desperate need of defensive help after a dreadful 2024 performance where WVU finished near the bottom of the FBS in several major defensive categories. West Virginia ranked 110th nationally this season with 31.9 points allowed per game and 111th nationally at 415.2 yards per game.

Former coach Neal Brown fired defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley mid-season, replacing him with inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, before Brown was fired himself the day after WVU’s loss at Texas Tech that ended the regular season.

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