Oklahoma adds Zac Alley as co-defensive coordinator, promotes Valai

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma football has added Zac Alley as a co-defensive coordinator.

The 30-year-old Alley joins Jay Valai and Todd Bates as co-defensive coordinators, the team announced on Saturday.

Alley spent the last two seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. He was defensive coordinator at Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.

Alley worked under Oklahoma coach Brent Venables as a graduate assistant at Clemson from 2015 to 2018 when Venables was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach there. In those four seasons, with Alley working primarily with the defensive tackles and linebackers, Clemson posted a 55-4 record and won two national championships.

Alley’s defense at Jacksonville State last season ranked fourth in the country in opponent yards per rush (2.8), eighth in tackles for loss yardage (414), ninth in turnovers gained (25), and 10th in interceptions (16). The Gamecocks went 9-4 and defeated Louisiana in the New Orleans Bowl.

“This a tremendous opportunity,” Alley said in a statement. “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.”

Venables also announced assistant coach Valai has earned the addition of “assistant head coach for defense” to his title. Valai’s official title is now assistant head coach for defense/co-defensive coordinator/pass defense/cornerbacks and nickelbacks.

Venables fired Ted Roof as defensive coordinator last week.