Zac Alley didn’t have to leave anything to the imagination when it came to working under Rich Rodriguez.
That’s because he had already spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State with the veteran head coach and also was on staff with him at Louisiana-Monroe when Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator.
So, when Rodriguez approached Alley about the coordinator role on his staff at West Virginia, he already knew exactly what he would be stepping into if he elected to leave his post at Oklahoma.
While it was a difficult choice for Alley in the end, he believed that the opportunity called to him.
“I believe that West Virginia is a sleeping giant in college football. The support, the people, they love it, and it matters. And it’s just good. I really felt it was just going to be the right guy had to come back to get the energy and get the people involved,” Alley told the 3 Guys Before the Game Podcast.
It was something that Alley felt from the start and that excitement led him to come back and want to work under Rodriguez at his alma mater.
As far as personalities, the two mesh very well as Alley shares many of the same traits as Rodriguez.
“If somebody messed up in the middle of the play like I’ll run out on the field and get in their face and get them right,” Alley said. “And as I’m running back, I’m throwing the signal up as we’re going back to the sideline and kind of moving on from there.”
Alley is a high-energy teacher who will coach his players hard. He is an aggressive-natured person who treats his approach to coaching the same way he does most other things in life.
“I’m a big believer that you should be who you are when you coach,” he said.
On top the way the two mesh in their coaching styles, Alley is also a firm believer in what Rodriguez brings to the table on the offensive side of the ball. It’s something that he has gone against countless times in practice and has a feel for how challenging it can be to prepare a team for with all it can present.
“There’s nothing he hasn’t seen as far as defensive schemes go. Always tell our defense, listen if he checks the sideline and we show him what we’re in and we don’t check we’re screwed,” he said. “Like he’s going to beat you a hundred percent of a hundred times.”
That experience and knowledge in the game of football make it challenging for a defensive play caller but also the fact that Rodriguez schematically makes it 11-on-11.
“He’s going to make you tackle the quarterback. He’s always going to find ways to make that guy a threat, which some offenses don’t do,” he said.
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