Brent Venables will have to replace both his coordinators this offseasons after defensive coordinator Zac Alley accepted the same poisiton on Rich Rodriguez’s staff at West Virginia. Pete Thamel was the first to report the news.
Sources: West Virginia is finalizing a three-year deal to make Zac Alley the school’s new defensive coordinator. He’s been the DC at Oklahoma and worked for Rich Rodriguez as DC at Jacksonville State.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 28, 2024
Alley addressed the speculation a day ago after the Sooners lost the Armed Forces Bowl to Navy, 21-20.
“Every year, there’s going to be something that comes up with jobs and whatnot,” Alley said. “Man, but I’m just excited about our team. 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.”
Less than 24 hours later, Alley is headed to Morgantown.
Alley spent two seasons under Rodriguez at Jacksonville State before joining Venables’s staff in Norman this season. During their first year in the SEC, the Sooners finished fifth in the league in total defense.
Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell after seven games. Littrell was in his first season at Oklahoma after replacing Jeff Lebby, who left to become the head coach at Mississippi State.
Oklahoma finished the season 6-7, the program’s second losing season in three yeard under Venables. Prior to that, that last time the Sooners finished below .500 was 1998.
