Zac Alley Explains Decision to Join Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia

New West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez hinted that he would be pursuing a top-notch coach to fill the defensive coordinator role, mentioning that the program had the resources to do so. Even then, no one expected Rodriguez to successfully poach a sitting SEC defensive coordinator, but that's exactly what happened.

While it will never be mentioned as a reason for the move, the fact that Brent Venables is in a dicey situation at Oklahoma likely played somewhat of a role in Alley leaving his post in Norman.

Alley is set to speak with the media on Thursday but already commented on his move to WVU along with what style of play fans can expect in a quick one-minute shoot with WVU's digital media team.

Why he chose to come to 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.”

Style of play

“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.”

💬 @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

Why he chose to come to West Virginia

Style of play

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI