Rich Rodriguez is putting together quite the impressive staff in his return to running a program.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Zac Alley is leaving his defensive coordinator role at Louisiana-Monroe for the same spot running the defense for Rodriguez at Jacksonville State.
Yet to turn 30 and already the youngest defensive play-caller in the Football Bowls Subdivision, Alley joins Rodriguez’s Gamecocks staff with experience running both defense and special teams. He was Bryan Harsin’s special teams coordinator at Boise State, in addition to also being mentored at Clemson by both Dabo Swinney and new Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables.
Alley, a Clemson graduate, began his coaching career by working his way up from student-assistant for the Tigers into a variety of key roles within that program.
Alley was FootballScoop's 2020 Special Teams Coordinator of the Year for his work at Boise State.
Additionally, Rodriguez also is tabbing Willie Green to coach the Jacksonville State defensive line, the same position Green held this past season on the ULM staff. It’s a return to familiar territory for Green, who previously spent four years at Jacksonville State.
A Hoover, Alabama, native who won a national title under Urban Meyer as a player at Florida, Green had a brief professional football playing career before breaking into the coaching ranks at his alma mater under then-head coach Jim McElwain.
Rodriguez, previously announced he has chosen to rehire Kelvin Sigler. Sigler's position will be determined once the full defensive staff is finalized.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.