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Oklahoma DC Zac Alley Lands on Prestigious Watch List

After Alley's defense shut down No. 7-ranked Alabama's dynamic offense on Saturday night, the Frank Broyles Award committee lauded his work.

John E. Hoover

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Zac Alley
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Zac Alley / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Oklahoma defensive coordinator Zac Alley landed on Tuesday's watch list for the 2024 Frank Broyles Award.

The Broyles Award is presented annually to the top assistant coach in college football. Alley is in his first season at OU after replacing Ted Roof during the offseason. Alley, who coached with OU head coach Brent Venables at Clemson, came to OU from Jacksonville State.

The 65 nominees in this year’s class were selected from approximately 1,500 assistant coaches representing 131 FBS programs across the country. The Broyles Award selection process includes the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), broadcasters, a college football hall-of-fame selection committee, and current college head coaches.

The nominees are:

ALABAMA – Nick Sheridan, Offensive Coordinator

ARIZONA STATE – Marcus Arroyo, Offensive Coordinator

ARKANSAS – Travis Williams, Defensive Coordinator/LB

ARMY WEST POINT – Nate Woody, Defensive Coordinator

AUBURN – D.J.  Durkin, Defensive Coordinator/LB

BAYLOR – Jake Spavital, Offensive Coordinator/QB

BOISE STATE – Dirk Koetter, Offensive Coordinator

BOSTON COLLEGE – Will Lawing, Offensive Coordinator/TE

BOWLING GREEN – Alex Bayer, Special Teams Coordinator/TE

BYU – Jay Hill, Assoc. Head Coach/DC

CALIFORNIA – Peter Sirmon, Defensive Coordinator/ILB

CLEMSON – Matt Luke, Offensive Line

COLORADO – Robert Livingston, Defensive Coordinator/S

DUKE – Jonathan Patke, Defensive Coordinator/LB

EAST CAROLINA – John David Baker, Offensive Coordinator/QB

FLORIDA – Jabbar Juluke, Assoc. Head Coach - O/RB

GEORGIA – Tray Scott, Defensive Line

GEORGIA SOUTHERN – Turner West, Special Teams

GEORGIA TECH – Jess Simpson, Defensive Line

ILLINOIS – Barry Lunney Jr., Offensive Coordinator/QB

INDIANA – Bryant Haines, Defensive Coordinator/LB

IOWA – LeVar Woods, Special Teams

IOWA STATE – Jon Heacock, Defensive Coordinator

JAMES MADISON – Lyle Hemphill, Defensive Coordinator/DB

KANSAS – Jonathan Wallace, Running Backs

LSU – Blake Baker, Defensive Coordinator

MARSHALL – Seth Doege, Offensive Coordinator

MEMPHIS – Charles Clark, Assist. Head Coach/DB

MIAMI(FL) – Shannon Dawson, Offensive Coordinator/QB

MICHIGAN STATE – Joe Rossi, Defensive Coordinator/LB

MISSOURI – Corey Batoon, Defensive Coordinator

NAVAL ACADEMY – Drew Cronic, Offensive Coordinator

NEVADA – Matt Lubick, Offensive Coordinator

NEW MEXICO – Jason Beck, Offensive Coordinator/QB

NORTH TEXAS – Jordan Davis, Offensive Coordinator/WR

NOTRE DAME – Al Golden, Defensive Coordinator

OHIO STATE – Jim Knowles, Defensive Coordinator

OKLAHOMA – Zac Alley, Co-Defensive Coordinator/LB

OLD DOMINION – Kevin Smith, Special Teams/OLB

OLE MISS – Pete Golding, Defensive Coordinator/LB

OREGON – Tosh Lupoi, Defensive Coordinator

OREGON STATE – Kyle DeVan, Offensive Line

PENN STATE – Tom Allen, Defensive Coordinator

RICE – Brian Smith, Defensive Coordinator

RUTGERS – Damiere Shaw, Running Backs

SAN DIEGO STATE – Zac Barton, Assoc. Head Coach/ST

SAN JOSE STATE – Derrick Odum, Assoc. Head Coach/DC

SMU – Scott Symons, Defensive Coordinator

SOUTH CAROLINA – Clayton White, Defensive Coordinator/ILB

SYRACUSE – Jeff Nixon, Offensive Coordinator

TENNESSEE – Tim Banks, Defensive Coordinator

TEXAS – Pete Kwiatkowski, Defensive Coordinator/OLB

TEXAS A&M – Jay Bateman, Defensive Coordinator/LB

TEXAS STATE – Mack Leftwich, Offensive Coordinator

TEXAS TECH – Kenny Perry, Assoc. Head Coach/ST/RB

TULANE – Joe Craddock, Offensive Coordinator/QB

UCLA – Ikaika Malloe, Defensive Coordinator

UCONN – Gordon Sammis, Offensive Coordinator/OL

ULM – Earnest Hill, Defensive Coordinator

UNLV – James Shibest, Special Teams

USC – D'Anton Lynn, Defensive Coordinator

VANDERBILT – Tim Beck, Offensive Coordinator

WASHINGTON STATE – Ben Arbuckle, Offensive Coordinator/QB

WEST VIRGINIA – Chad Scott, Offensive Coordinator/RB

WESTERN KENTUCKY – Tyson Summers, Defensive Coordinator

A selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, broadcasters and a committee representing the FWAA will select 15 semi-finalists, five finalists from the list of nominees, and an overall winner.

The 2023 Broyles Award winner was Phil Parker, who is the defensive coordinator at Iowa. Previous winners are not eligible to be nominated for the Broyles Award until the completion of three seasons.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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