Monday is for a reset, with the players getting off, and it’s when the West Virginia coaches meet for the game plan for the week.

Defensive coordinator Zac Alley heads into the office and writes something on the board. Then, another, and another, and by the time defensive line coach Willie Green gets to the office, there are 1,000 things on there.

“Coach Green always says don’t take notes on Monday, because I’ll have 1000 things on the board,” Alley said. “There are 25 things I want to do, but we narrow them down.”

Alley is a creative defensive coordinator. He blitzes, brings in different sets, and uses interesting coverages. At 31 years old, there’s still a lot of imagination, and it shows. Alley’s defense is second in the country with 13 sacks, and that’s without WVU’s best pass rusher, Jimmori Robinson, playing a snap.

The Mountaineers had six sacks against Pitt, and Alley broke out a new two-bandit package. The bandits are hybrid linebackers/defensive ends, but are a little on the smaller side to be a lineman. At 6-foot-2, 238 pounds, Alley had bandit Braden Siders with his hands in the dirt like a lineman.

“When I first heard we were doing that, we kind of knew we were doing that this summer, I wasn’t too sure how it worked,” Siders said. “Then in the game, I realized he knew what he’s talking about, for sure. I knew that the quarterback struggled with that.”

Defensive back Darrian Lewis talked after Pitt that Alley’s one of the smartest coaches he’s played for. He’s energetic and puts players in spots to succeed. When they’re not in the right spot, that’s when Alley jumps up and down.

The young defensive coordinator has a tough challenge in Week 4. Kansas’s offense averages 36 points per game, and dropped 31 on No. 23 Missouri a couple of weeks ago.

The Kansas offense’s focal point is veteran dual-threat quarterback Jalon Daniels. Daniels is third in the Big 12 with nine passing touchdowns and sixth in average yards per game. He hasn’t rushed too much this year, but definitely still a threat.

“Some guys move, and they can’t throw it,” Alley said. “He moves, and every piece of grass on the field is able to be hit by the ball. You got to guard everything from the field comeback to the boundary fade. Any route combination on the field. He can get the ball there, 40, 50, 60 yards down the field, and with accuracy. That’s something that’s unique for a guy who could move so well.”

A mobile quarterback is nothing new for WVU. Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro was mobile, and Pitt’s Eli Holstein could take off if everything’s covered, too. Alley’s defense has also faced multiple athletic quarterbacks in practice all summer long, like Max Brown, Scotty Fox and Jaylen Henderson.

“They see it in practice, too,” Alley said. “I feel like everybody nowadays, there’s no more, like, stiffs back there that can’t run around. I feel like that’s kind of become a requirement, almost, to play quarterback. I think our guys are pretty used to it, and I feel pretty good about it, just the understanding of how good a player he is and how he moves.”

It’s a judgment decision when he breaks containment, so working on that will be important during practice. When WVU prepared for Navarro, Alley used some of the backup quarterbacks to do a scramble drill, and they’ll probably use the same technique for Daniels.

If Daniels doesn’t break containment, there won’t be an issue. To help contain him, Alley received some reinforcement this week with pass rusher Jimmori Robinson. Robinson battled NCAA issues and is finally set to play against the Jayhawks.

Alley liked what he’s seen so far from the UTSA transfer and is already thinking about how he can move him around.

“He can probably play wherever you want him to,” Alley said. “At safety, he’ll probably do that too. But obviously, he’s a great pass rusher, so you’re going to try and rush him off the edge to affect the quarterback as much as possible. He’s a big dude that plays physical, so same idea. He’s got a lot of versatility to him as well.”

You could imagine, Alley’s got some ideas for this week. In the first three weeks, Alley’s creativity has made the Mountaineers one of the top defenses in the country. On occasion, there’s the blown coverage, but his defense has come up big when it matters most, like the final couple of drives against Pitt.

Just think, Alley only uses like 25 ideas a week, so there’s a whole lot more he hasn’t shown.

“I come up with them, and we put them in and teach them this week,” Alley said. “It kind of varies game to game. There were some consistent looks and things we’ve done in the past that we get to, but then, obviously, every week we’re going to have something game plan-wise that we will do to that team for whatever it is that they do that week.”