The Oklahoma Sooners lost the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against the Navy Midshipmen on Friday, but the bigger loss for the program came on Saturday.
According to multiple sources, but first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, first-year defensive coordinator [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] is finalizing a deal to step into the same role at West Virginia. This represents a major loss for the program, as coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] will have to find a new defensive play-caller and linebackers coach heading into a huge 2025 season.
Venables was Alley’s mentor for many years when the pair worked together at Clemson, however Alley chose to leave for the Mountaineers, where he’ll rejoin coach Rich Rodriguez in Morgantown. Rodriguez was hired to coach WVU this month, replacing Neal Brown. Alley and Rodriguez worked together at Jacksonville State before Venables brought him to Norman.
It’ll be a third different defensive coordinator for Venables in his four seasons at OU. Alley replaced Ted Roof, who called the plays for the first two seasons of the Venables era, but left last winter. Now, less than a year after arriving at Oklahoma, Alley is gone.
It marks the second straight season Venables will break in new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Jeff Lebby was the offensive coordinator for the first two seasons and was replaced by Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley. That disaster led to Littrell’s firing, Finley’s promotion and eventual demotion, and the hiring of Ben Arbuckle.
Now, Arbuckle will not be alone as the new guy on staff: Venables is once again looking for a new coordinator.
It’s another shocking twist in the OU football landscape: Alley was believed to be returning in 2025. Getting poached by a Big 12 program such as West Virginia, especially for a guy that seemed so close to Venables, is a bad look to say the least.
Alley was asked in Friday’s postgame about the possibility of him leaving and had this to say:
“Every year, there’s going to be something that comes up with jobs and whatnot, man, but I’m just excited about our team,” Alley said. “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.”
Alley led the best defense the Sooners have had in years in 2024, but it turns out that will be his only season in Norman. As if Venables didn’t already have enough on his plate going into 2025, this, along with keeping any more defensive players from leaving in the [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag], now becomes one of his top priorities, as he tries to keep the program from circling the drain in Norman.
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