Official: Oklahoma, Brent Venables Hire Co-Defensive Coordinator Zac Alley
By OU Media Relations
NORMAN — University of Oklahoma head football coach announced the hiring of Zac Alley as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Saturday.
Alley joins OU's program after spending the last two seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL. He also served the 2021 season in the same capacity at ULM in Monroe, LA.
The 30-year-old Alley is extremely familiar with Venables, having worked under him for four years (2015-18) as a graduate assistant at Clemson when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 record (.932, (tied with Alabama for the nation's best during that span) and won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles and two national championships (2016 and 2018).
"I'm incredibly excited to welcome Zac to our coaching family here at Oklahoma," said Venables. "He's going to fit in really well from a cultural, chemistry and philosophy standpoint. Obviously, there's a familiarity and comfort based on our background together at Clemson. He's exceptionally hard-working and tough, and has earned his way up the professional ladder by going out on his own and establishing himself. He's incredibly bright, innovative and passionate.
"Our players are going to love him. He's got great humility and confidence, and is always finding ways to get better. He's coached linebackers and the defensive line, he's been exposed to the secondary and he was an award-winning special teams coordinator at Boise State. Wherever he's been he's molded his units into better versions, and he'll do the same here. He really fits in well with our staff."
Alley coordinated a 2023 Jacksonville State defensive unit that ranked 33rd out of 133 teams in scoring defense (21.2 ppg) and 43rd in total defense (352.8 ypg), and that helped the Gamecocks to a 9-4 overall record, a 6-2 Conference USA mark (third place) and New Orleans Bowl win over Louisiana. Jax State also ranked fourth in the country in opponent yards per rush (2.8), eighth in tackles for loss yardage (414), ninth in turnovers gained (25), 10th in interceptions (16), 12th in opponent yards per play (4.8), 13th in sacks per game (2.9), 15th in rushing defense (111.5 ypg), 17th in tackles for loss per game (7.1), 22nd in opponent third-down conversion percentage (32.7), 24th in opponent fourth-down conversion percentage (41.4), 33rd in pass efficiency defense rating (123.7) and 37th in opponent pass completion percentage (58.5).
Many of the Gamecocks' 2023 defensive numbers are even more impressive considering the team's high-tempo offense helped lead to the team's No. 129 ranking in time of possession (just 26:43 per game). Also, 13 Jacksonville State defenders registered at least one interception this season, most in the country.
In his first year at Jacksonville State in 2022, Alley presided over a stingy defense that helped the Gamecocks amass a 9-2 record and a 5-0 league mark en route to the Atlantic Sun Conference championship. Led by linebackers Stevonte Tullis (first-team all-conference) and Markail Benton, Jax State led the nation with 15 fumble recoveries and boasted the 11th-ranked red zone defense. It gave up 21 or fewer points seven times in 11 games, and 17 or fewer points on six occasions.
"This a tremendous opportunity," said Alley, who was born in Spartanburg, SC, and also grew up in Greenville, SC, Atlanta and Charlotte. "Oklahoma is an elite and historic program that has consistently competed for championships. The opportunity to come to OU and work for someone I really respect and who thinks like I do on defense and who wants to be aggressive and get after people on that side of the ball is exciting.
"Everything I do is based on what Coach Venables did at Clemson. That's been the foundation for how I've built defenses. I always respected how he handled himself as a coach and as a man, and I wanted to emulate that as best I could. From the moment I met him, I always wanted to be like him, have a career like his, lead the best defense in the country like him. He's obviously had a huge influence on me and I'm excited to be back with him."
Alley was the youngest defensive coordinator in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision when he took over at ULM in spring 2021 at the age of 27. A member of 247Sports' "30 Under 30" list, Alley joined the Warhawks after a 0-10 season in 2020 and helped lead them to four victories. Under his direction, the Warhawks improved in virtually every defensive statistical category from the previous season, including going from No. 125 in rushing defense before his arrival to No. 69.
Prior to ULM, Alley was Boise State's co-special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach under head coach Bryan Harsin from 2019-20. He helped the Broncos to a 17-4 record in those two seasons, which included a 13-game win streak in Mountain West Conference play. In 2020, FootballScoop.com named Alley one of its special teams coordinators of the year.
Alley also served a defensive coaching internship with the NFL's Carolina Panthers in the spring of 2017, assisting the linebackers coach.
He started working as a student assistant in Clemson's football office as a freshman in 2011 and spent four years in that role, the last three with Venables on staff. He earned his bachelor's degree in business management in December 2014 and earned his master's in human resource development in August 2017.
Alley attended his last two years of high school at Charlotte (NC) Country Day School, where he played linebacker and offensive line.
"I hope I can bring some of the same energy and juice that Coach Venables has," added Alley. "As a younger guy, I relate to the players really well and hopefully I can bring some knowledge and energetic leadership on the field."
Venables also announced Saturday that assistant coach Jay Valai has earned the addition of "assistant head coach for defense" to his title. Valai's title is now assistant head coach for defense/co-defensive coordinator/pass defense/cornerbacks and nickelbacks.
"I'm incredibly excited about this defensive staff," said Venables. "The leadership in the room with Coach Valai, Coach Alley, Coach (Todd) Bates, Coach (Miguel) Chavis and Coach (Brandon) Hall is exceptionally strong."
- Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news!
- Want even more Sooners news? Check out the SI.com OU team page here!
- Listen and subscribe to the AllSooners Podcast!
- Watch more Sooners videos and subscribe on YouTube!
- Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!
