Zac Alley’s Takeaway-Focused Defense Already Changing the Tone at WVU

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 10:53 AM ET

The one thing the previous regime at West Virginia really struggled with was forcing turnovers. In five of the six years, Neal Brown's team ranked 100th or lower in takeaways per game. The only season they didn't? You guessed it. The COVID-shortened season.

WVU takeaways per game under Neal Brown

2024 - 0.9 (114th)
2023 - 1.2 (100th)
2022 - 0.8 (128th)
2021 - 1.0 (104th)
2020 - 1.3 (69th)
2019 - 1.0 (117th)

With Zac Alley now in charge of the Mountaineer defense, you can expect that per-game number to see a significant bump. He has three years under his belt as an FBS defensive coordinator, two of which came at Jacksonville State under Rich Rodriguez. He spent two years as the shot-caller there, but their first year there was their final at the FCS level. In 2021, he was the Co-DC at UL Monroe for Terry Bowden.

Takeaways per game under Zac Alley

2024 - 1.7 (27th) - Oklahoma
2023 - 1.8 (21st) - Jacksonville State
2021 - 1.3 (68th) - UL Monroe

Alley's had a great deal of success creating turnovers at three different stops, and if you think the 68th ranking at Monroe isn't impressive, I encourage you to do a deep look into the history of that program. The year before he got there, the Warhawks ranked 98th in this category.

Alley's approach is to be aggressive 100% of the time — be it a play call, bailing on coverage to come downhill and make a play, jumping a route, or punching at the ball. This is what causes teams to turn the ball over so much against his defenses. The pressure is one thing, but it's the relentless effort that causes real headaches.

“We have a standard," Alley said. "Every practice, we keep track of it. We’re trying to get three or more turnovers a practice, starting from period one to whatever period we end on that day, and we hold them accountable to that. Generally, if you end up with three-plus turnovers a game throughout a season, you’re probably going to be top-10 in the country come the end of it. You win the turnover margin; it’s the number one indicator of winning. We’ve done it the first two days (forced three or more). Once the pads get on and start popping, it’ll be a little harder.”