Zac Alley: WVU Has ‘No Shot’ If the Defense Doesn’t Communicate

The WVU defensive coordinator was very candid with his unit earlier this week.

Sep 5, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers defensive coordinator Zac Alley during warmups before their game against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Defensively, the West Virginia Mountaineers are far from where they want to be. At the same time, they have shown what they are capable of in pockets throughout their first two games.

The problem is, it can't just show up in spurts or for a half against a Top 25 team if you want to remain unbeaten. It has to be consistent for four quarters.

On Tuesday, WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley called out the unit's biggest problem that needs to be fixed immediately.

“I think the communication. I got on everybody on Sunday that a lot of the things we saw we did in practice to those calls, and then we get in the game, and we don’t do what we did in practice," Alley stated. "Just trying to keep the consistency of ‘Hey, if we call this, we play this.’ We won’t make it up as we go along. That’s something that will be a point of emphasis this week. I felt like we didn’t do a good enough job in the last game to execute to a higher level. Obviously, you have some plays where it went really well, and you were get off the field and knock them out, force turnovers, those things. But I want to play well on every down. I don’t want them to gain a yard at any point in time.”

It's one thing if guys are communicating and there is still confusion. When that happens, you're in big trouble because that means you don't know the calls or your responsibilities. Right now, it appears to be a fixable issue.

“We’re being really quiet. Nobody’s talking,' Alley said. "I told them all, I said, ‘Listen, if there’s two guys in the back end and they do all the communication, and if they’re not in, we got no shot if nobody else talks.’ It’s particularly on teams that are going to change formations and move guys in motion. You can’t just be like, ‘I hope he knows what to do.’ Like, that doesn’t work. So the challenge this week is we have to play with some anticipation of, like, okay, ‘Hey, if he motions, what are we doing?’ Not just ‘Oh, well, I hope he figures it out, and he’s got him over there.’ Talk to each other and communicate.”

Some of the lack of communication could simply be from guys just not being used to playing with one another and being afraid to speak up and help each other out, or they are so laser-focused on their responsibility. You hope that's the issue and not that guys aren't talking because they don't know what's going on or when someone else is out of position. That's a bad place to be. Alley needs more from his linebackers, and communication is 100% a part of that.