With the announcement of West Virginia’s hiring of former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Zac Alley, many critics have emerged on social media.
One such critic happens to be former Oklahoma cornerback Zack Sanchez, who called out Alley for the move.
“He a bitch just like Lincoln in my book,” Sanchez wrote. “Tell your guys you comin’ back yesterday and then run away like a LIL B**** that he is. Hopefully, the SOFTNESS leave with him.”
The news came as a bit of a shock as the SEC has been highly touted as the cream of the crop in collegiate athletics. The move was the exact inverse of previous hires in coaching settings, as the SEC and Big Ten have made a living poaching Big 12 coaches for years now.
Sanchez referenced Alley’s post-game comments about leaving Oklahoma, where he addressed the rumors, saying, “Every year, there’s going to be something that comes up with jobs and whatnot, man, but I’m just excited about our team. I think coming back next season, we’re going to have a great opportunity to be successful, be a top defense in the country, and hopefully we got some young guys who can come along to help us do that.”
Zac Alley’s Coaching History
Zac Alley has deep ties to both head coaches. He worked on staff with Rich Rodriguez as his defensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023 at Jacksonville State before he rejoined Brent Venables in Norman for the 2024 campaign.
Alley got his start in coaching working with Venables, as he was a student assistant at Clemson from 2011-2014, and he was promoted to a graduate assistant with the Tigers from 2015-2018.
His first job as a position coach came at Boise State, where he served as the inside linebackers coach in 2019. In 2020, he was elevated to outside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator for Boise State.
In 2021, Alley went to Louisiana-Monroe where he was both the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach before being hired by Rodriguez at Jacksonville State in 2022.
Alley has been calling defensive plays, along with being the linebackers coach. This past season under Alley, the Sooners finished the regular season 11th in rushing defense, 55th in passing defense, 21st in total defense and 34th in scoring defense.
