West Virginia fires defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley, names Jeff Koonz interim DC

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia fired defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley on Tuesday. Inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz will replace Lesley for the rest of the season, coach Neal Brown said.

West Virginia's injury-riddled secondary has struggled all season. The Mountaineers are surrendering 9.3 yards per pass play, worst in the Big 12, and their 17 touchdown passes allowed are the second-worst.

After giving up 45 points to No. 17 Kansas State on Oct. 19, West Virginia surrendered a pair of touchdown passes in blown coverage in a 31-26 win at Arizona on Saturday.

“These decisions are never easy, but I’m confident this change is in the best interest of our program and puts us in the best position to finish strong,” Brown said in a statement.

Lesley was in his fourth season as defensive coordinator. He was West Virginia's defensive line coach for two years before that and worked on Brown's staff at Troy for three seasons.

West Virginia (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) plays next at Cincinnati (5-3, 3-2) on Nov. 9.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football