MORGANTOWN — Rich Rodriguez is out on the West Virginia practice field yelling, screaming, running around and all over the place. On the other side of the field with the defense, Zac Alley is yelling, screaming, running around and all over the place, too. The two are similar.

Alley left his co-defensive coordinator job at Oklahoma to reunite with Rodriguez at WVU. Alley’s coached under Rodriguez at multiple stops, and most recently at Jacksonville State as the defensive coordinator.

“We were always friends,” Alley said. “I don’t know. He keeps hiring me. From the jump, I think he likes me. I like him, and I’m kind of mindset the same way. I’m like that high freaking energy. I’m running all over the place, screaming, yelling, doing everything. I think that similar coaching styles probably match up.”

Now, Alley’s tasked with turning around the WVU defense, which was ranked third to last in the Big 12. In the first days of preseason practice, Alley’s been following a similar process to Rodriguez and is still evaluating what he has to work with.

Alley’s being attentive and looking for players to emerge and fit his and Rodriguez’s standards. He’s looking for consistency in the early days without pads.

“Everybody has good and bad days, but the guys that you want to play have more good days than bad days,” Alley said. “So you’re trying to look for their first couple days of practice like who can put back to back to back good days together, that you can rely on to do what they’re supposed to do, play at a high level, have a standard of performance that leads to success.”

What’s the standard? There are a couple during preseason practices for Alley’s defense.

The first is a turnover standard. WVU ranked second-to-last in interceptions and forced fumbles last year in the conference. Neal Brown’s defense didn’t force turnovers. The defensive staff has a three-turnover quota each practice for the defense. Alley said that it’s been hit in the first two practices.

“We kind of hold them accountable to that,” Alley said. “Because generally, if you have three plus turnovers a game throughout a season, you’re probably going to be top 10 in the country come the end of it. So, always trying to emphasize that. I think that’s an important thing for our guys, and they feel that while we’re out there, they hear us talking about it.”

The other standard aligns with Rodriguez’s standard for the program — playing with a hard edge. Alley wants his defense to be tough, and if they’re not, he’ll hold them accountable, even if it’s calling them out in front of the rest of the defense.

“You want to elevate when it’s done well, and you want to show and criticize when it’s done poorly,” Alley said. “I believe in telling the truth. If it’s bad, I’ll tell you it’s bad, and I will call you out in front of everybody. If it’s good, I’ll tell you it’s good. Everybody will know it, because there’s only one way to win.”

The defense is still a work in progress. Every position is up for grabs, and Alley said no one has emerged in the first two practices. After the first two weeks, he expects players to stand out from the rest of the pack.

From when he took over the defense in the spring to now, Alley’s seen improvement.

“I think that we’re certainly a lot more talented than we were in the spring, just as a whole,” Alley said. “I think that we both developed players that were here that went to a great strength summer conditioning program. We get to work with them now in the summer. That helps a lot. We brought in a lot of guys to compete. I think that no job has been earned yet. No job is safe, and everybody’s kind of mixing in between the ones, twos and threes right now, and seeing who can help us.”