Beavers’ Bray: ‘We have a great opportunity to take this program to a place it hasn’t been’
Head coach Trent Bray (courtesy OSU sports communications)
Updated 1/17/2024, 5:40 AM, 1/16/2024 12:05 AM
Trent Bray laughs when I ask if he has ever had a busier six weeks in his life.
“No I haven’t,” says Bray, who was named Oregon State’s 31st head football coach on Nov. 29.
It has been a whirlwind of activity for Bray since replacing Jonathan Smith, who departed the day after the Beavers’ Civil War loss for East Lansing, where he is now head coach at Michigan State.
Bray’s initial priorities: Assembling a coaching staff and recruiting.
He has brought back former Beavers as his coordinators — Ryan Gunderson on offense and Keith Heyward on defense — as well as Kyle Devan as offensive line coach. Gunderson and Devan were teammates of Bray’s at OSU.
Was it important to Bray to have some coaches on the staff who played and coached at Oregon State?
“Yes in the sense that I want people who want to be here,” Bray says. “I want guys who are not just looking for a paycheck, but also want to raise their family here in Corvallis. These guys know this place. They know the positives as well as the things we need to fight through.
“They were the best candidates for the job. It’s an added bonus that they’re ex-Beavs, but the first thing was their expertise at coaching the position.”
Bray has also retained three coaches who were on Smith’s OSU staff, including Kefense Hynson, who works with receivers, and Anthony Perkins, who will work with Heyward in the secondary. Coaching the Beaver tight ends will be Jon Boyer, who spent the past six years as a senior advisor for the offense and worked with quarterbacks. Boyer, who had been offensive coordinator at Northern Colorado prior to coming to Corvallis, was starting quarterback at North Carolina in 2000 and ’01.
The other coaches will be Thomas Ford (running backs), Ilaisa Tuiaki (defensive line) and A.J. Cooper (linebackers).
“We are not only getting great people but elite coaches and elite recruiters,” Bray says. “I’m very happy with the staff I’ve been able to put together. They are young, energetic, talented, and they have done a great job recruiting.”
Bray has one more hire — a special teams coach — that he expects to make within a week. Jake Cookus will not be retained.
While Bray is helping the cause by accepting a far cheaper contract than Smith’s — five years, $10 million; Smith was making $31.2 million over six years — his staff’s payroll will be an estimated $4.85 million, similar to that of Smith’s staff.
“I wanted the salary pool to stay the same,” he says. “That was the big thing to me.”
Bray has filled two other important positions with what one might call the “Big Macs”: Mike McHugh as director of football operations and Todd McShane as director of player personnel.
McHugh comes to Oregon State from Fresno State, where he was football’s chief of staff for six years. He previously worked as director of operations at Missouri, Washington, California and Oregon.
“I had no previous relationship with Mike, but a ton of people who worked with him gave him unbelievable recommendations,” Bray says. “In the month or so we’ve worked together, he has been everything they said he would be.”
McShane is a Corvallis High and OSU grad who was the Beavers’ assistant director of player personnel from 2012-14. He served in the same capacity at Nebraska from 2015-18 and for the past six years was director of recruiting/offense for Northwestern. McShane is nephew of Bill McShane and cousin of Kevin McShane, both former OSU basketball players.
“Todd is awesome — organized, detail-oriented, really solid,” Bray says. “He is from Corvallis and wants to be here.”
With the advent of the transfer portal, college football recruiting is much different than it was only a couple of years ago. It encompasses not only landing high school and junior college talent but also keeping other schools from raiding your players, and also pulling in players from those schools.
“We had holes that we had to address — not just from departing seniors, but from losses through the portal,” Bray says. “We have added talent that will help us improve in many areas of need. I’m very happy with that.”
The top end of Oregon State’s returning roster was gutted by portal losses, a list that includes quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and defensive tackle Siole Lolohea (both Florida State), quarterback Aidan Chiles, tight end Jack Velling (Michigan State) and offensive guard Tanner Miller (all Michigan State), linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and safety Akili Arnold (both Southern Cal), placekicker Atticus Sappington (Oregon), cornerback Jermod McCoy (Tennessee) and receiver Silas Bolden (undeclared).
The portal, as you can see, is mean-spirited. Oregon State recruits and develops talent; the big-ticket schools steal them. It was a perfect storm this season, with the disintegration of the Pac-12 and Smith fleeing for the Big Ten.
“The thing of it is, what can you do?” Bray says. “I mean, you’re disappointed. I had a personal relationship with many of those guys. The way that it happened you don’t like, but it’s going to happen everywhere.
“You’re always going to fight the battle with schools that want to poach your players. This year, USC is able to buy two of our guys (Mascarenas-Arnold and Arnold) after we develop them into all-conference players. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it except replace those players with guys you can develop into even better players.”
The Beavers, in turn, look down the food chain for help. Bray has added 12 players through the portal, including quarterbacks Gevani McCoy from Idaho and Gabarri Johnson from Missouri, two veteran offensive linemen and four defensive linemen.
The 6-2, 185-pound McCoy, QB completed 229 of 354 passes (64.7 percent) for 2,910 yards and 15 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 12 games. McCoy, a junior in eligibility next season, also rushed for 378 yards and two TDs for the Vandals, who finished 9-4 overall and tied for second in the Big Sky while losing in the second round of FCS playoffs.
“McCoy is a proven winner, which I really like,” Bray says. “I like his arm, but also his ability to get out and make plays with his legs when things break down.”
The 5-10, 195-pound Johnson, a Tacoma native, redshirted his first season at Missouri and has four years of eligibility remaining. The Tigers were 11-2 overall and second in the SEC East while beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
“Johnson has the same skills but is young and hasn’t done it in games yet,” Bray says. “I like the skill set.”
For now, Ben Gulbranson remains with the Beavers. The 2022 starter who so admirably handled his demotion to third string in 2023, then went the route in OSU’s 40-8 loss to Notre Dame in the Sun Bowl, will enter spring ball in what Bray considers a three-way battle for the starting job.
“Ben will have an opportunity to win the job,” Bray says. “We’re in a great position for competition this spring. It will make all three of them better.”
Sophomore Travis Throckmorton, who has not played his first two years on campus, will also take part in spring drills.
The Beavers also signed Kallen Gutridge, a 6-3, 185-pound left-hander who passed for 3,482 yards and 53 touchdowns in leading Wilsonville to the state 5A championship game this fall. Gutridge, an all-state basketball player as a junior, would seem to be a likely redshirt in 2024.
“I’m intrigued by him,” Bray says. “Gundy really likes him. A great kid, athletic, very smart.”
The running back room is full and talented, led by junior Damien Martinez, an All-Pac-12 selection this fall. Also back is junior-to-be Isaiah Newell, the third-string running back this past season. The Beavers picked up two others at the position through the portal: Jam Griffin, who transferred from OSU to Ole Miss last season but has returned, and Anthony Hankerson, a 5-9, 195-pounder who had 78 carries for 319 yards and a TD for Colorado last season. Griffin gained 39 yards rushing in seven attempts for the Tigers in ’23.
“Running back is as good as it’s been since I’ve been here,” Bray says. “It’s a lot like in 2022 when we had Damien, (Deshaun) Fenwick and Jam. Newell has come a long way. We have four really good backs. That room is loaded.”
Among 11 high school and Juco players the Beavers have signed are a pair of prep running backs.
Cornell Hatcher, 6-foot and 190 pounds, rushed for 2,257 yards (8.5 average) and scored 42 touchdowns in 12 games as a senior for Corona (Calif.) Centennial High. The nephew of former OSU star safety Armon Hatcher was a second-team MaxPrep All-American, LA Times Back of the Year and SBLive CIF South Section Player of the Year last fall. Salahadin Allah, 6-foot and 205 out of La Marque, Texas, rushed for 650 yards and 11 TDs as a senior.
“Cornell had crazy stats,” Bray says. “His film is really good. That’s a tough league. We are excited about Salahadin, too. They are two really good young running backs.”
Hatcher and Allah won’t participate in spring ball, but they will be given an opportunity to show what they can do when training camp opens in August.
“We tell everyone to come ready to play, and it will be however (training) camp sorts it out,” Bray says. “That’s how those things are settled.”
The running backs will need blocking up front, however, to be successful. Oregon State loses two starters off their offensive line to graduation — center Jake Levengood and guard Heneli Bloomfield. Junior All-America tackle Taliese Fuaga is a projected first-round NFL draft pick, and Miller will be playing for Michigan State next season. That leaves senior-to-be tackle Josh Gray as the only returning starter.
Bray mentions Jacob Strand and Luka Vincic — both 6-5, 285-pound sophomores-to-be — as up-and-comers. Part-time starter Grant Starck, a 6-4, 300-pound senior-to-be, returns along with sophomores Nathan Elu (6-5, 295) and Dylan Lopez (6-3, 295), junior Tyler Morano (6-7, 275) and senior Flavio Gonzalez (6-6, 300).
“They will all be a part of the team going into spring ball,” Devan says.
Two transfers who started for Colorado this past season — center Van Wells, a 6-2, 290-pound junior, and tackle Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, a 6-10, 315-pound senior — are likely starters for the Beavers in 2024.
Marco Brewer, 6-4 and 325 and a starting guard at OSU in 2021 and ’22 who missed last season after knee surgery, has one remaining season of eligibility. A starting O-line featuring Gray, Brewer, Starck, Wells and Christian-Lichtenhan could be a very competitive one next season.
“We still look to build on what we have (through the portal), but have some experience and a lot of guys who have potential to be good players,” Bray says. “Coach Devan’s expertise, experience and knowledge will help the O-linemen get the most of their ability. I feel like we’ll be solid there.”
Bray has added six defensive players through the portal, but not with a lot of college experience. Four of them are linemen — 6-5, 270-pound senior Nick Norris from Northern Colorado, 6-6, 310-pound senior
Amipeleasi Langi from Houston, 6-3, 290-pound sophomore Tygee Hill from LSU and 6-3, 320-pound redshirt freshman Tevita Pome’e from Oregon. Also coming aboard are cornerbacks Sal Vadrawale from California and Mason White from TCU.
The Beavers have also added a pair of Juco defensive players — linebacker Gyriece Goodman from Garden City, Kan., and safety Amarion York from Football in Los Altos, Calif. Both should figure in for immediate playing time.
Bray will oversee both sides of the ball but will have more input defensively. Heyward, a starting cornerback at OSU from 1997-2000, has nearly 20 years coaching experience, including stops at OSU, Washington, Oregon, Southern Cal and California. He was defensive coordinator at UNLV in 2022 and a quality control coach with the Las Vegas Raiders this past fall.
Keith Heyward was a starting cornerback on Oregon State’s Fiesta Bowl championship squad of 2001 (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“Keith and I are on the same page on the defensive end,” Bray say. “I’ll be there to talk with Keith and give him what I see, but it is going to be Keith’s defense. We will be very similar structurally to what I did, and Keith brings in some extra knowledge and will add his wrinkles to improve the package.”
Heyward was a quality control coach with the Las Vegas Raiders this past fall (courtesy OSU sports communications)
Gunderson was a teammate of Bray’s at OSU, his career spanning from 2003-07. He coached at San Jose State from 2017-20 and at UCLA under Chip Kelly from 2021-23. Gunderson will handle play-calling duties in 2024.
Ryan Gunderson played quarterback a OSU from 2004-07 (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“Sitting in his meetings with not only players but other coaches, I have been even more impressed listening to him talk about how he is going to create problems for the defense,” Bray says. “We talk quite a bit — me from the defensive standpoint. He asks, ‘Does this give you problems?’ And I’ll tell him what does. It has been fun already working together with him and planning how we can attack people.”
Bray says the Beavers’ offense in 2024 “will be different” than the one run by Smith and O-coordinator Brian Lindgren at OSU.
Gunderson was quarterbacks coach under Chip Kelly at UCLA from 2021-23 (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“We need to be more explosive,” Bray says. “We have to be able to throw the ball. In those big games that kept us out of conference championships, we couldn’t throw the ball when the defense loaded the box. We have to get more creative in the passing game.”
It has been a new, bigger world for Bray, 41, single and with no children. Even before he assumed the head job, those close to him have said he is wed to the game of football.
“Trent’s kids are the players he works with every year, mentoring them, guiding them, raising them to be responsible adults,” says close friend Scott Sanders, the former Beaver football and baseball player. “He is so consumed with football, if there’s time for personal relationships with women, there’s not a lot.”
“That’s kind of the way it is with Coach Bray,” says Jack “Jackhammer” Colletto, who played for the Beavers from 2018-22 and was an All-Pac-12 selection as a senior. “He is such a football junkie. That’s really the type of person he is. Especially during the season, he is so wrapped up in it, it’s kind of funny. You have to know him to understand.”
Bray plays some golf. He enjoys music and attending concerts. He likes to travel, with Arizona and Montana his favorite vacation destinations. (The only time he has been abroad was his season playing with the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe.) In the summers, you might find him in Montana, fishing with his father — former OSU defensive coordinator Craig Bray — and brother Josh. But he makes sure any hobbies don’t take him away from his duties coaching football.
“It takes up a bunch of my time, for sure,” he says with a chuckle. “I don’t want to just be a football coach. Part of my job has always been taking care of a group of players. Now it is a greater responsibility in caring for 120 players. So yeah, I put a lot of time into that. That’s definitely true. And it is going to get even busier.”
Colletto, playing mostly tight end on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad this season, says Beaver football is in good hands.
“On the defensive side of the ball, the Beavers are going to be just as good with him as head coach — and if they continue to get talent and build on it, maybe better,” Colletto says. “I have no worries on the defensive side as long as Coach Bray is in the building. And I’m sure he has coaches who will get it done on offense as well.”
The prospect of playing the next two seasons as an independent doesn’t seem to faze Bray.
“I don’t spend time thinking about it,” he says. “I can’t do anything about it. The destruction of the Pac-12 was very disappointing, there’s no doubt. But we still have a great opportunity in front of us to take this program to a place it hasn’t been.”
The Beavers’ 2024 schedule has them facing seven Mountain West schools along with four Power 5 opponents — California, Washington State, Purdue and Oregon — and FCS Idaho State.
“It is set up for us to do well,” Bray says. “We are still going to play good teams. It is a very competitive schedule, but one we can have some success with.”
During his introductory press conference in November, Bray boldly pronounced high expectations for his first OSU team in 2024.
Bray was a first-team All-Pac-12 linebacker at Oregon State as a senior in 2005 (courtesy OSU sports communications)
“I truly believe we are more than capable of getting to the college football playoffs next year,” he said then.
Six weeks later, the coach wasn’t backing away from the statement.
“With the coaching staff we have in place, with the talent we have and the way our schedule is set up, we have a chance to win a lot of games,” Bray says. “If you do that, you’ve got a chance to (make the 12-team CFP playoffs).”
When I ask Bray if he has had to settle for less-talented recruits than when Oregon State was a member of the Pac-12, he answers in surprising fashion.
“I would say we have been attracting better players,” he says. “I look at the portal guys we have been able to bring in. The level of talent we have been able to grab has been encouraging.
“They see the picture I’m painting to them about the opportunity we have in this two-year window to build our legacy. It is a really exciting time for Oregon State football to do something big. I believe the talent we put on the field next season will be as good as it has ever been here.”
Bray is not looking past the 2025 season. He sounds as if he thinks another Power 5 opportunity will be in store.
“The big focus is these next two years,” he says. “We all know everything is going to realign again. If we can handle our business the next two years and make ourselves a valuable and successful entity, we are going to land in a good spot.”
Pollyanna isn’t coaching the Beavers. Bray is a rookie head coach, but he knows that nothing will come easily.
“Trent’s eyes are wide open,” Sanders says. “He has accepted the challenge in front of him. He is in a fight. He knows it. That’s what he thrives on. Through all this adversity, Trent is doing what he does best — be a leader. The parents and families of recruits are learning about the new coach at Oregon State. That is a big reason why they are choosing to come here.”
Even with aides to help him with administrative affairs, Bray’s first few weeks as head coach have had to be overwhelming — but also fulfilling.
“It has been a lot, but there are a lot of positives to it,” he says. “I have enjoyed the personal relationship part. To be able to work on a wider scale with more players and affect them in a positive way is really exciting. There are administrative parts to it that you have to do no matter what your job is, but the relationships part is what I’m really excited about.”
There’s no doubt Oregon State’s new head coach is invested in the product.
“I love this place and want it to be as good as it can be,” he says. “I’m very motivated by that.”
► ◄
Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below. On the comments entry screen, only your name is required, your email address and website are optional, and may be left blank.
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter).
Like me on Facebook.
Find me on Instagram.
Be sure to sign up for my emails.
