WVU Football Fires DC Jordan Lesley, Promotes Jeff Koonz
West Virginia fired defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley on Tuesday in the middle of their final bye week of the regular season. WV Sports Now was able to confirm this news soon after CBS Sports’ initial report.
The move cuts ties with Lesley in the middle of his sixth season on the WVU staff. He initially arrived in Morgantown along with head coach Neal Brown in 2019 as a defensive line coach. Lesley was then prompted to co-defensive coordinator in 2020 and the top defensive coordinator in 2021.
Can confirm West Virginia has fired defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley.@CBSSports was first with the news.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 29, 2024
WVU inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Jeff Koonz will take over as defensive coordinator moving forward.
After an improving in 2023 following a rough 2022 campaign, the West Virginia currently ranks third worst in the entire Big 12 and has been a factor in the Mountaineers’ 4-4 (3-2, Big 12) record to this point.
Below from Lesley’s page on the WVU football staff directory:
Jordan Lesley, a nominee for the 2020 and 2021 Broyles Award, is in his sixth year on the Mountaineer Football coaching staff and fourth year as the defensive coordinator. Under Lesley’s guidance, the Mountaineer defense competes each year as one of the best units in the Big 12 Conference and in the nation.
In 2023, West Virginia’s defense produced 6.5 tackles for loss per game, ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and tied for No. 14 among Power Five schools. The Mountaineers showed an improvement of 40 places from 2022 (No. 67) to No. 27 in 2023. It also ranked No. 1 in the Big 12 in sacks, averaging 2.5 per game, tying for No. 19 in Power Five. The 33 sacks were the most since 2019 and WVU held 11 of its last 12 opponents to fewer than 300 yards passing.