Zac Alley Details the Standard of Effort, Turnover Benchmarks, Linebacker Play + More

For the first time this fall camp, West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley met with the media and made it pretty clear — there's only one way to play the game. He's looking for high-effort players who communicate and give their all on every single rep.

Here are some of the top quotes from today's presser.

If the defense has the talent and the skill set to be successful

“We’re certainly a lot more talented than we were in the spring. We’ve both developed players that were here that went through a great strength summer conditioning program, and we brought in a lot of guys to compete. No job has been earned yet. No job is safe. Everybody’s kind of mixing in between the ones, twos, and threes right now, and we’re seeing who can help us and who can’t.”

How much they drill forcing turnovers into players’ heads

“We have a standard. Every practice, we keep track of it. We’re trying to get three or more turnovers a practice, starting from period one to whatever period we end on that day, and we hold them accountable to that. Generally, if you end up with three-plus turnovers a game throughout a season, you’re probably going to be top-10 in the country come the end of it. You win the turnover margin; it’s the number one indicator of winning. We’ve done it the first two days (forced three or more). Once the pads get on and start popping, it’ll be a little harder.”

The effort on day two

“Average. I mean, it wasn’t great. It wasn’t the worst practice I’ve ever been a part of, but it wasn’t the best by any means. Certain guys are consistently playing at that level, but the entire group’s got to up that mindset and learn how we do what we do. Despite how hard you try through summer and being out there…it’s just not the same as getting out and playing football — the intensity level, the demand. We’re still learning, and we’ve got a ways to go before we get there. Thankfully, we’ve got a lot of practices left.”

Early thoughts on the linebacker group

“I think we’ve got a lot of leaders that are starting to emerge. Today was a lot better than the other day as far as communicating and talking. I tell them it’s on you. If you don’t get the check to the safety, that’s on you. The d-line is lined up wrong; that’s on you. That’s your fault. Everything’s on us. That’s the way I want my guys to think, and to be an All-American, that’s what they do. They fix everybody, all the time. Just preaching the intelligence, the understanding, and all the things that go with being a great linebacker to get the room to elevate as a whole. We’ve got really good competition right now. That helps.”

Getting players to do hard things they may not want to do

“You’ve got to be on them. There’s a standard of how we play, and this is how you got to do it. I tell them that all the time. There’s one standard of how we do things, and you either achieve that standard or you don’t every single play. We’re straining to get to that consistency all the time, every time. And then I think just on and off the field, you want to elevate when it’s done well, and you want to show and criticize when it’s done poorly. I don’t want a guy to go through a practice and…I just believe in telling him the truth. If it’s bad, I’m going to tell you it’s bad. I’m going to call you out in front of everybody. If it’s good, I’m going to tell you it’s good, and everybody’s going to know it. There’s only one way to win.”

If the defense has the talent and the skill set to be successful

How much they drill forcing turnovers into players’ heads

The effort on day two

Early thoughts on the linebacker group

Getting players to do hard things they may not want to do

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