Zac Alley Challenges Defensive Line Despite Facing an Obstacle During Camp

Consistency is key, and WVU football defensive coordinator Zac Alley is working to instill that into his defense.

For the 2026 season, Alley is specifically looking for more consistency from the defensive line. He has challenged his defensive line, which has multiple new members, to show steadiness and effort.

“I’ve challenged our front four. I want to be better there consistently and just the consistency of the ability to do it,” Alley said in a press conference Wednesday. “We got some guys who are talented enough, and now it’s, it’s putting it together and showing the physicality and doing their job every single day.”

However, there’s one main obstacle working against Alley – fall camp doesn’t allow defensive and offensive line players to play with full speed and full contact. They also haven’t hit each other the way they would during a game in almost a year.

“Just as a nature of it, the D-line has a harder time throughout the summer, some of the O-line, because you’re not actually going against each other. You’re not banging. You’re not doing the things that actually are ‘football’ per se, like playing the game,” said Alley.

Despite the limited time and physicality, Alley has emphasized intensity and maximizing opportunities at practice.

“I think the intensity has to be there every single period of every practice. You have to maximize your time while you’re out there. You take advantage. We get some walkthroughs at night and other on the field things. So you gotta maximize the time we’re in camp where there’s nothing else going on but football,” Alley said.

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