Zac Alley Evaluates Newcomers Tobi Haastrup, Matt Sieg, JUCO Additions + More

For the first time this spring, West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley got to speak with the media on Monday. Here is everything he had to say.

What it’s like having Ben Cutter back

“Absolutely. I got on Cutt today because I told him you’ve got to be the old man of the group. You’ve got to know everything that everybody does on every play. That’s your expectation. That’s what we expect from him — to be that type of All-American, captain, call everybody out, tell everybody what to do every play type of guy. On top of that, Cam Torbor’s back and has been in that room, and that actually helps because they’ve been in the system another year.”

If the team’s speed has improved

“I think so. I don’t have like the average numbers (of) last year, this year. I don’t know off the top of my head, but it feels like it.”

What Tobi Haastrup brings to the table

“Obviously, Oregon did really well this past year, and Tobi is a special kid. I think he’s studying neuroscience. I think he wants to be a neurosurgeon, so he’s pretty smart. And based on the recruiting process, he might be the least successful person in his family if he does that because they’ve got a heck of a lineage there. Obviously, he’s got a great pedigree, but hadn’t played. There’s a transition to try and play more now, so excited to see what he can do. We hadn’t had a lot of situations where his pass-rush skill set showed up yet. We’re on day two, and it’s still 1st and 10 all the time.”

Thoughts on the group of pass rushers

“I feel really good. I think we’ve improved the overall size and athleticism across the board. That was a conscious effort to get bigger, in particular on defense.”

The biggest thing this defense needed

“I think size is the big thing. We lacked length in the back seven last year, and it showed up. Perimeter screens, throws on the edges…I mean, we’re in position the last three games of the year to make plays and just getting Moss’d. I was like, alright, we’ve got to fix that. It’s not like somebody busted and suddenly we’re in a bad call. Nope. They were just better than us. I think the length on the edges is important — at corner, at safety, at linebacker — to be able to cover up through the space and the way teams play the game in this league. You don’t get a lot of Iowa 22 personnel, A Gap power here. You get a lot of three receivers out there by the numbers, and they’re throwing a screen, and you’ve got to tackle a lot of speed and a lot of spacing.”

Evaluation of the JUCO products

“Darius Wiley is huge. He’s got so much potential. He’s fast. He’s long. And he can run. He’s just still a little raw, and he’s got to grow into being in this level of the game. KJ Henson and Jaylen Thomas, our inside guys, they are both pretty special. I think they’ve got real ability, and we’ve got to get it out of them. I think both those guys have a really good chance. Jeremiah Johnson out of Butte (CC), he’s got a knack for pass rushing and slipping inside and doing some of the things you can’t teach. And then I think all the guys that we took out of JC in the back seven are like 6’4”, so that helps.”

First impression of Matt Sieg

“Matt is obviously a phenomenal athlete, and even a better person. I mean, just world-class. Everything that he does is at a really, really, really high standard. He comes in early every morning and in the indoor at 6:30 and catches ball as a receiver and then comes to practice as a safety. You can see that he’s got real ability and is a very natural instinctual kid.”