OU football targets Jacksonville State's Zac Alley as defensive coordinator, per reports
NORMAN — OU football coach Brent Venables apparently isn't taking long to fill his defensive coordinator opening.
Just hours after Venables announced Ted Roof would not return as the Sooners' defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, 247Sports first reported the Sooners would hire Jacksonville State defensive coordinator Zac Alley to replace Roof.
Alley knows Venables well from his time as a student and graduate assistant at Clemson.
“I laugh about it,” Alley told The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier in November. “But I talk like Coach V. I coach like him.
“My parents tell me my mannerisms are like him on the sidelines.”
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Alley, 30, got a quick start to his coaching career, becoming a student assistant as a freshman at Clemson in 2011. He remained on Dabo Swinney's staff through 2018 after becoming a graduate assistant in 2015.
After the 2018 season, Alley was hired to coach nickelbacks at Charlotte but shortly after being hired there, was hired to coach inside linebackers at Boise State.
After two seasons there, Alley was named Louisiana-Monroe's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, becoming the youngest defensive coordinator in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Before last season, he was named defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State.
The Gamecocks went 9-4 this season, allowing 352.8 yards per game — 241.3 passing and 111.5 yards rushing. Jacksonville State had 39 sacks.
“We try to be aggressive,” Alley said. “That’s always been my mindset. Coach V always said, ‘Pressure breaks pipes.’ So like I tell our guys, ‘See? That guy was wide open but the quarterback couldn’t get him the ball.’”
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Who is Zac Alley?
High school: Charlotte (N.C.) Country Day School
College: Clemson (earned bachelor's degree in business management, 2014; master's degree in human resource development, 2017)
Coaching career: Clemson, graduate assistant (2015-18); Boise State, co-special teams coordinator/outside linebackers (2019-20); Louisiana-Monroe, defensive coordinator/linebackers (2021); Jacksonville State, defensive coordinator/linebackers (2022-23)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football targeting Zac Alley for defensive coordinator, per reports
