West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez didn’t sugar coat the level of defensive coordinator that he was targeting for his first coaching staff in his return to Morgantown.
“I’ll have a really, really good one because I have enough resources to hire a really, really good one,” Rodriguez said during his introductory press conference.
Turns out the veteran head coach certainly wasn’t kidding.
West Virginia was able to pull Zac Alley away from Oklahoma and the SEC for a three-year deal in Morgantown as the defensive coordinator. Alley had just completed the first year of a three year contract with the Sooners with a base pay of $800,000 and increased $50,000 in 2025 and 2026.
And while it’s not known yet what Alley will be making in Morgantown, the move signifies the financial commitment on the Mountaineers’ end in order to land the high-level defensive coordinator.
West Virginia was able to secure one of the most high-profile coordinators available and do it by taking him from an SEC program that didn’t want to see him go.
Alley had ties to Rodriguez after spending two years with him at Jacksonville State as well as working with him at Louisiana-Monroe but also had to leave behind another coach that he had ties with in Brent Venables after starting his career at Clemson.
Alley, who called plays for the Sooners defense, had the unit ranked 21st in total defense this past season allowing 318.2 yards per game and was tied for 18th in yards per play allowed at just 4.87.
The Sooners were ranked 34th in scoring defense permitting just 21.58 points per game at the end of the regular season.
That follows a trend for Alley, who also experienced plenty of success during his time atop the Gamecocks defense ranked 33rd in scoring defense at 21.2 points per game and 43rd in total defense helping to lead the Gamecocks to a 9-4 overall record in 2023.
His unit had success in holding opponents to 2.8 yards per rush, or fourth nationally, was ranked eighth in tackles for loss with 414 and ninth in turnovers gained with 25.
The 2022 unit led the nation at the FCS level with 15 fumble recoveries and was 11th in red zone defense. The Gamecocks gave up 21 points or fewer in seven of 11 games.
Needless to say, it's been a proven track record of success across multiple spots.
The move is a massive one for the West Virginia coaching staff which is being assembled by Rodriguez and he was able to land one of the most critical pieces of all.
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