WVU DC Zac Alley Displays Intensity, Personality During Spring Practice

There’s been a lot of talk about how intense West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley is during practice. It’s now time for fans to get a glimpse of what players are experiencing with Alley.

Much like what they did with head coach Rich Rodriguez earlier in spring, WVU football program released a video of Alley mic’d up from a spring practice.

He's not messing around 🫡

🎙️ Mic'd up with @CoachZAlley pic.twitter.com/9lWmrot12C

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) March 28, 2025

The video shows Alley living up to his reputation and putting what he said he would demand from his defense soon after being hired on display. He also clearly finds time to have fun and joke around as well.

“I talk about relentless all the time. That’s our mindset. We’re going to have a relentless way we play, how we prepare, how we out-work, how we out-execute, and affect the game on our side of the ball. Our relentless mindset in how we play is how we’re going to be and what we’re going to hang our hat on,” said Alley with conviction.

“We’re going to have a relentless way we play, how we prepare, how we out-work, out-execute and affect the game on our side of the ball,” he added.

Zac Alley Opens Up About Decision to Leave Oklahoma for WVU, Talks ‘Relentless’ Style of Play

Alley, 30, is viewed as an up-and-coming young defensive mind and has a strong connection to Rodriguez. Alley was recently served as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma during the 2024 season, an opportunity he owes to his time working under Rodriguez at Jacksonville State.

Prior to joining the Sooners in 2024, Alley spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with Rodriguez and the Gamecocks as defensive coordinator. He’s also worked with Rodriguez at Louisiana-Monroe. Before that, Alley spent time at Boise State and earned a couple of national championship rings as a graduate assistant with Clemson.

Find more coverage of the WVU football program during spring practice at WV Sports Now.

For a related story, Mike Asti explains why Zac Alley is facing tons of pressure and why 2025 is a pivotal year for his career.