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

In what many around college football view as one of the most surprising moves of the offseason, WVU plucked Zac Alley away from Oklahoma. And now that Alley has been on the job as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for a couple months, he’s ready to explain why he jumped from the Sooners to the Mountaineers and offer fans a glimpse of what to expect from his defense.

On Wednesday, a day before he’s scheduled to talk with the media, WVU released a clip of Alley answering some of the questions on the minds of Mountaineer fans everywhere. In the video, Alley spoke with the program’s coal mining scenery as the backdrop.

💬 @CoachZAlley

"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."@PanhandleCR pic.twitter.com/hG5v8mlV2O

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) February 19, 2025

First off, Alley explains why he left a blue blood school for West Virginia.

“I think it was Coach Rodriguez coming back – an opportunity to be a part of a great staff with an amazing leader that obviously has a rich history here, the program does, of being successful. A lot of those years were under him and being one of the winningest programs in college football and the opportunity to come back and build something special really meant a lot to me,” said Alley.

He then got right into how he will coach his players and the style of play fans will see from his defense. This mentality clearly aligns with what Rodriguez always preaches and expects from his team.

“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.

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.

For related content, WV Sports Now’s Mike Asti conducted a live show to talk with fans about the hiring of Zac Alley immediately after the news dropped.

Find more coverage of Zac Alley at WV Sports Now.