Soccer
Mike Montoro
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia College soccer coach Wealthy Rodriguez has introduced the hiring of Zac Alley because the Mountaineers’ assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
“Zac is without doubt one of the prime younger defensive coordinators within the nation and has confirmed his skill to guide and be an innovator at completely different stops throughout his profession,” Rodriguez mentioned. “I’ve labored with him a number of seasons, and he consistently impresses me together with his skill to mix schemes together with his personnel and develop profitable outcomes. I look ahead to him becoming a member of our employees and making a right away affect for us.”
Alley rejoins Rodriguez after serving because the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma this previous season. He coached underneath Rodriguez at Jacksonville State in 2022-23 and at Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.
“I’m excited to hitch coach Rodriguez and the West Virginia College soccer program,” Alley mentioned. “I’ve large respect for Coach Rod, as I’ve seen how he develops gamers and builds a program. I look ahead to working with the gamers and doing my half to assist WVU be one of many prime groups within the Huge 12 Convention and the nation.”
At Oklahoma in 2024, Alley helped lead the Sooners’ protection to a No. 3 rating in defensive touchdowns, No. 5 in fumbles recovered, No. 10 in group tackles for loss, No. 11 in first-down protection, No. 19 in complete protection, No. 23 in dashing protection, No. 25 in sacks and No. 30 in scoring protection.
One in all Alley’s standouts, linebacker Danny Stutsman, earned NCAA Consensus All-American honors after main the Sooners with 110 tackles, together with a team-high 44 solo stops, for a mean of 9.2 tackles per sport with eight tackles for loss.
Alley coordinated a 2023 Jacksonville State defensive unit that ranked thirty third out of 133 groups in scoring protection (21.2 ppg) and forty third in complete protection (352.8 ypg), and helped the Gamecocks to a 9-4 report, a 6-2 Convention USA mark (third place) and New Orleans Bowl win over Louisiana.
Jax State additionally ranked fourth within the nation in 2023 in opponent yards per rush (2.8), eighth in tackles for loss yardage (414), ninth in turnovers gained (25), tenth in interceptions (16), twelfth in opponent yards per play (4.8), thirteenth in sacks per sport (2.9) and15th in dashing protection (111.5 ypg).
In his first 12 months at Jacksonville State in 2022, Alley presided over a stingy protection that helped the Gamecocks amass a 9-2 report and a 5-0 league mark en path to the Atlantic Solar Convention championship.
Alley was the youngest defensive coordinator within the NCAA’s Soccer Bowl Subdivision when he took over at ULM in spring of 2021 on the age of 27. A member of 247Sports’ “30 Underneath 30” listing, Alley joined the Warhawks after a 0-10 season in 2020 and helped cause them to 4 victories. Underneath his course, the Warhawks improved in nearly each defensive statistical class from the earlier season, together with going from No. 125 in dashing protection earlier than his arrival to No. 69.
Previous to ULM, he served as Boise State’s co-special groups coordinator and out of doors linebackers coach in 2019-20. He helped the Broncos to a 17-4 report in these two seasons, which included a 13-game win streak in Mountain West Convention play. In 2020, FootballScoop.com named Alley one in every of its particular groups coordinators of the 12 months.
He additionally served a defensive teaching internship with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers within the spring of 2017, aiding the linebackers coach.
Alley served 4 years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson. In these 4 seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 (.932) report and gained 4 Atlantic Coast Convention titles and two nationwide championships (2016 and 2018).
He began working as a pupil assistant at Clemson as a freshman in 2011 and spent 4 years in that function. He earned his bachelor’s diploma in enterprise administration in 2014 and his grasp’s diploma in human useful resource growth in 2017.
