The very first thing West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez has to do is put a staff together, ideally starting with finding a defensive coordinator. There is no set scheme Rodriguez is searching for, but he does have a few guys in mind.
“It depends on the coordinator I hire. I’ve got a couple that I’ve talked to, and they’re different,” Rodriguez said Thursday. “And everybody runs the same of everything now defensively whether it’s an odd-stack or an even front. Everybody has certain personnel packages they use for their own defense, but I’m going to pick the d coordinator first. I’ll have a really good one because I have enough resources to hire a really, really good one, and then from there, I’ll build out the defensive staff. There’s not one particular scheme that I want other than that I want to be really aggressive and force the issue, so to speak, on the other team.”
While Rodriguez doesn’t seem to mind what the defensive scheme is, his teams had great success with the 3-3-5 in his first stint in Morgantown. That doesn’t mean he’ll lean in that direction, but he has ties with a lot of guys who have experience running it. One of which is Zac Alley, who is currently the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma.
His relationship with Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables goes back to 2011 when he served as a student assistant under him on the staff at Clemson. Alley remained at Clemson through the 2018 season before moving on to take his first position coach job as the inside linebackers coach at Boise State.
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After two years in Boise, Terry Bowden named him the defensive coordinator at UL-Monroe in 2021, making him the youngest coordinator at the FBS level at 27. There, he met Rich Rodriguez, who was the offensive coordinator for the Warhawks. He was so impressed by Alley’s coaching and ability to scheme a defense that he brought him to Jacksonville State the following year to serve as his defensive coordinator.
Alley’s unit finished 33rd in scoring defense and 43rd in total defense. The Gamecocks were stout against the run, allowing just 2.8 yards per carry while causing a ton of havoc by creating 25 turnovers (16 interceptions), and a 13th-place finish nationally in sacks per game (2.9).
That success has carried over into his new post at Oklahoma in his first year on the job. The Sooners have seen drastic improvements in the four key defensive statistical categories, as shown below.
2023 (Before Alley)
2024 (With Alley)
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Total Defense
389.7 (60th)
324.4 (20th)
Pass Defense
250.8 (100th)
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218.6 (63rd)
Rush Defense
138.9 (42nd)
105.7 (11th)
Scoring Defense
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23.5 (41st)
22.3 (31st)A
Alley’s approach fits the exact style Rodriguez wants his defense to play – fast, physical, and aggressive. But the one thing he adds to that is the wrinkles he throws in pre-snap. There’s a lot of movement, which causes the picture to change for the quarterback and often puts them in a tough spot. The defensive line will throw a lot of twists and stunts to make things even more difficult to handle.
He does a really good job of mixing things up visually, creating a bit of a guessing game as to where the pressure is coming from and who is dropping in coverage. He ran a lot of odd stack at Jax State but did mix in a healthy dose of four down fronts as well. He’s able to adapt to the personnel he has, which is probably the most impressive part about him for being such a young coordinator.
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Score Predictions for West Virginia vs. Bethune-Cookman
Spread & Over/Under Predictions for West Virginia vs. Bethune-Cookman
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Javon Small scored 27 to lead West Virginia to an 84-61 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday night.
Small made 7 of 15 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers and all 11 of his free throws for the Mountaineers (8-2), who have won four in a row and improved to 6-0 at home. He added six rebounds and six assists and blocked two shots.
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Aman Hansberry totaled 16 points and six rebounds for West Virginia. Jonathan Powell sank four 3-pointers and scored 14. Sencire Harris pitched in with 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Brayon Freeman led the Wildcats (2-8) with 14 points on 6-for-18 shooting. Daniel Rouzan had 13 points, while Trey Thomas and Reggie Ward Jr. both scored 12. Ward added seven boards. Bethune-Cookman has lost all seven road games this season.
Small had 12 points and four assists to help West Virginia take a 41-30 lead into halftime. The Mountaineers shot 51.7% from the floor, made 6 of 13 from 3-point range and all five of their free throws in building the lead. They used an 11-0 run to turn a five-point lead into a 26-10 advantage. Rouzan had nine points for the Wildcats, who shot 33% overall with one 3-pointer and made 9 of 14 at the foul line before the intermission.
Thomas followed his 3-pointer with a layup to pull Bethune-Cookman within 45-39 with 16 minutes remaining. Jonathan Powell answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 run and the Mountaineers led by double digits from there.
West Virginia is idle until hosting Mercyhurst on Dec. 22.
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Nostalgia has hit Morgantown with the hiring of Rich Rodriguez as head coach for his second stint leading the Mountaineers.
Pat White quarterbacked West Virginia from 2005 to ’08. White was with Rodriguez for three of those years, before the coach left Morgantown to take the University of Michigan job in 2008. The duo won in Morgantown, touting a 32-5 record together with the Mountaineers.
Now, with Rodriguez back in town, White was asked about his interest in his own return on BetOnline’s “The Pacman Jones Show.”
Jones, a West Virginia alum himself, lobbied for White’s return to the university, calling a potential move a “no-brainer.”
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“It would be nice to be back in them mountains, man,” White said in response to Jones. “Back connecting with my guy Rich.”
Jones asked White if a return to his alma mater is something he’d seriously consider.
“Morgantown is a second home. I love coaching the game of football,” White continued. “And to have an opportunity to work with a guy who helped me make a name for myself and getting there to allow another guy similar to myself build a name for himself and finally get that national championship Morgantown has been waiting on.”
White spent time on the coaching staffs at Alcorn State, South Florida and Alabama State. He was also an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2022 to ’23.
There are only fond memories of the Pat White-era in West Virginia. Now, with Rodriguez’s return, he may be on his way back too in an effort to help restore the program’s winning ways.
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