Keith Burdette, president and chief executive officer of Polymer Alliance Zone, was the keynote speaker at he WVU Parkersburg Fall 2024 Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14. (Photo Provided by WVU Parkersburg)

PARKERSBURG — West Virginia University at Parkersburg Saturday held its 2024 Fall Commencement with more than 300 students earning degrees.

The welcome was given by Isabella Hileman, president of WVU Parkersburg Student Government Association, who introduced the keynote speaker, Keith Burdette, president and chief executive officer of the Polymer Alliance Zone.

Hileman shared her insights of her college journey, encouraging the fall class of 2024 to value relationships, embrace challenges beyond their comfort zones and view graduation as the start of a greater journey.

“Graduation is not an end, but instead it’s a part of a longer journey. Wherever the future takes you, let it be somewhere bright,” Hileman said.

Burdette highlighted the importance of the lessons that come after college, urging graduates to embrace mistakes as valuable learning opportunities and to remain open to possibilities ahead.

Drawing from his own experiences, Burdette said the most meaningful lessons in life came not from success, but from failure. Challenging and unwelcome moments have shaped his actions and taught him to appreciate success, he said.

“Take what you do seriously, but don’t take yourself so seriously. Don’t be afraid to laugh at the mistakes,” Burdette said. “Be the best you can be at whatever you choose to be, but laugh at yourself a little along the way.”

Burdette has held several public and economic development roles including secretary for the West Virginia Department of Commerce and executive director of the West Virginia Development Office. Burdette was the youngest Senate president in West Virginia’s history, served in the House of Delegates and held advisory roles under Govs. Earl Ray Tomblin and Bob Wise.

Torie Jackson, president of WVU Parkersburg, talked about the history of higher education, the legacy of WVU Parkersburg and steps students should take to move forward.

“Our success has been based on our ability to be adaptable and make necessary changes. The same skills you have learned are the ones we apply to redevelop ourselves and match the needs of our communities,” Jackson said. “It’s why we start new degrees. It’s why we reinvigorate others. Our mission still is to cultivate economic and social progress. We will continue to elevate and so should you.”

Jackson left graduates with a message.

“As you enter the next part of your life, have confidence, be proud of your accomplishments and know that you are ready to achieve more,” she said.

The ceremony celebrated the achievements of 123 graduates who crossed the stage, with 330 students earning certificates, associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees, pending final grades.

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* The full fall 2024 commencement ceremony is available to watch online at https://tinyurl.com/37kbuff3.

* For more videos, West Virginia University at Parkersburg’s YouTube page is at https://www.youtube.com/wvuparkersburg.

WEST VIRGINIA (LOOTPRESS) – Snowy and icy conditions have resulted in some West Virginia school districts altering schedules for Monday.

The latest school closings and delays for tomorrow, December 16, may be viewed below.

BERKELEY COUNTY: Closed

GRANT COUNTY: 2-hour delay

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY: 2-hour delay

HARDY COUNTY: 2-hour delay

JEFFERSON COUNTY: 2-hour delay

MINERAL COUNTY: 2-hour delay

MORGAN COUNTY: 2-hour delay

PENDLETON COUNTY: 2-hour delay

TUCKER COUNTY: 2-hour delay

Stick with LOOTPRESS for the latest.

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.

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.

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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