Locked On West Virginia - Daily Podcast on West Virginia Mountaineers Football & Basketball
Sep 28, 2026 · 41 min · 21 segments
Is Zac Alley FAILING WVU—or Has WVU FAILED Zac Alley? Oklahoma State put up 609 yards in a 41–24 win in Morgantown, and WVU’s defense had no answer when the game was on the line. Zac Alley came to…
Jackson JohnsonGuestAll right, so let's get into the show here because I want to talk Zach Alley, right? Because I think a lot of people are blaming him for a lot of this.
And can I just give you my full-throated kind of response to all that? Because I think sometimes...
when it comes down to things like this, it can be a little more tricky than maybe than, than people would like to think.
And specifically in this case, I'm just not, I'm not convinced that Zach Alley's not a good coach yet.
I think he's made some bad choices as a defensive coordinator at West Virginia, absolutely.
He hasn't figured out the way to be that great combination of aggressive but yet still unpredictable and all those things that we like about Venables.
You know, you didn't hire an unknown coordinator, you know, and hope that he would figure it out.
You named your defensive coordinator, you know, and you committed almost $2 million to him a year.
At Jacksonville State, his 2023 defense was 33rd in the country in scoring and 14 yards allowed.
At Oklahoma, when he was served as a defensive play caller there, they finished 19th in total defense.
So his work at different spots is why the expectation in Morgantown is high.
And the way I see it, like, you know, West Virginia didn't get that early signing period from Rich's early staff there at West Virginia, nor did they get a first portal window.
They had to use the second portal window to build a team that was still offensive heavy even last year, even though it didn't seem like it.
And 2026 defense was rebuilt again with fresh new faces across the entire secondary and front.
And those additions, while they do count, it would be inaccurate for me to say that West Virginia gave Allie no players.
All right, so let's get into the show here because I want to talk Zach Alley, right? Because I think a lot of people are blaming him for a lot of this.
And can I just give you my full-throated kind of response to all that? Because I think sometimes...
when it comes down to things like this, it can be a little more tricky than maybe than, than people would like to think.
And specifically in this case, I'm just not, I'm not convinced that Zach Alley's not a good coach yet.
I think he's made some bad choices as a defensive coordinator at West Virginia, absolutely.
He hasn't figured out the way to be that great combination of aggressive but yet still unpredictable and all those things that we like about Venables.
You know, you didn't hire an unknown coordinator, you know, and hope that he would figure it out.
You named your defensive coordinator, you know, and you committed almost $2 million to him a year.
At Jacksonville State, his 2023 defense was 33rd in the country in scoring and 14 yards allowed.
At Oklahoma, when he was served as a defensive play caller there, they finished 19th in total defense.
So his work at different spots is why the expectation in Morgantown is high.
And the way I see it, like, you know, West Virginia didn't get that early signing period from Rich's early staff there at West Virginia, nor did they get a first portal window.
They had to use the second portal window to build a team that was still offensive heavy even last year, even though it didn't seem like it.
And 2026 defense was rebuilt again with fresh new faces across the entire secondary and front.
And those additions, while they do count, it would be inaccurate for me to say that West Virginia gave Allie no players.
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