Keith Heyward is back home in Corvallis; ‘I have a job to do’
Keith Heyward is in his first year as Oregon State’s defensive coordinator, but his Beaver roots run deep (courtesy OSU sports communications)
Updated 5/26/2024 11:07 PM
It was almost a quarter-century ago that Oregon State took the college football scene by storm, going 11-1 and thrashing Notre Dame 41-9 in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. If not for a midseason 33-30 loss at Washington, the Beavers could have finished the season as national champions.
Keith Heyward was a senior cornerback on that 2000 OSU team, a four-year letterman, three-year starter and one of the leaders on a defense featuring linebackers James Allen, Nick Barnett, Darnell Robinson and Richard Seigler, linemen Eric Manning and Dwan Edwards and Mitch Meeuwsen, Dennis Weathersby and Terrell Roberts in the secondary.
“We had an ultra-aggressive team,” says Heyward, now Oregon State’s defensive coordinator. “We were scrappy. We didn’t care who we were going against. We were guys who competed very hard on the practice field. We sometimes got into scuffles with each other, but we brought it harder to opponents on game day.
“We had guys hungry to win. We practiced that way. The saying is, your practice behavior becomes game reality. That’s so true. If you can practice hard and develop those habits, when you come to the game, it becomes second nature.”
Heyward would love to channel the spirit and energy of those Beavers with his 2024 defense. He says he saw good signs during the first spring practice of the Trent Bray era.
“It has been like that since I got here,” Heyward said in a phone interview from Miami, where he was on a recruiting trip. “These kids work hard. They are dialed in. They have a chip on their shoulder. They have a lot to prove. Trent has done a great job tapping into the foundation that has been Oregon State football for a lot of years.”
Heyward, 44, returned this winter to a place with which he is familiar. After playing four seasons for the Beavers and short stints in the CFL, NFL Europe and Arena Football, he served two years as a grad assistant at his alma mater (2005 and ’06). After a year coaching linebackers at Cal Poly, he returned for four seasons as secondary coach for Mike Riley.
Since then, Heyward has had coaching stops at Washington (2012-13), Southern Cal (2014-15), Louisville (2016), Oregon (2017-20, ending as assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach under Mario Cristobal), California (2021) and Nevada-Las Vegas (2022, as D-coordinator and secondary coach under former Ducks assistant Marcus Arroyo). In 2023, Heyward served as defensive quality control coach for Las Vegas Raiders. Now he is back where it all started.
“Corvallis has changed a lot,” Heyward observes, “but it also hasn’t changed much.”
How so?
“It is a little bigger, with a lot of new buildings, the new stadium, some new restaurants to try,” he says. “But Corvallis is still Corvallis. It’s still a college town. If you’re a student, you focus on football and your schoolwork. For me, I have a job to do.”
One thing is very different than Heyward’s previous experience in Corvallis. Pac-12 football as we know it is over. Next season, Oregon State will play an independent schedule loaded with Mountain West Conference opponents.
“Kinda sucks to see the Pac-12 go away,” says Heyward, who was raised in Woodland Hills, Calif., in the San Fernando Valley near L.A. “It was such a great conference for many years. Now it is dismantled.
“It will be weird to not play the USCs and UCLAs and Washingtons — some of those really good rivalries we had. That will be disappointing. It’s sad, but we are going to play 12 games against whoever our opponents are. I have to get prepared for them.”
Heyward has personal experience with the Mountain West, having coached at UNLV two years ago.
“There are some really good teams and coaches, some talent in that league that is sometimes overlooked,” he says. “The offenses you go against from week to week are much like the Pac-12, where the coaches are good and are going to find ways to keep your defense off-balance.”
Heyward was a grad assistant during Bray’s final season with the Beavers as an All-Pac-10 inside linebacker in 2005. “He was a hell of a player and a smart guy,” Heyward says.
Through the years, they would talk on the phone, or in person when Heyward would stop into Valley Football Center for a visit.
“Hey, I’m still a Beaver,” Heyward says with a laugh. “I always tell myself that. Trent and I are very familiar with each other and the style of ball we like to see on the field.
“It has been great coaching with him — really good. Trent comes in and gives me his thoughts sometimes. Sometimes I will go to him looking for his thoughts. As a coordinator, you want to be doing the things that the head coach wants to see, and in this case especially so because Trent is a defensive guy. It has been a really good relationship.”
Seventh-year senior Jaden Robinson will be one of the leaders in the Oregon State secondary (courtesy OSU sports communications)
During Heyward’s four years coaching under Riley, he helped develop players to the highest level. Seven of his defensive backs reached the NFL, including Poyer, who is now with the Miami Dolphins in the latter stage of an outstanding pro career. (Heyward recruited Poyer, whom he visited with on Tuesday in Miami). The others: Brandon Hughes, Keenan Lewis, Brandon Hardin, Al Afalava, Ryan Murphy and James Dockery. That’s not including standouts Heyward coached in the secondary such as Greg Laybourn, Lance Mitchell, Suaesi Tuimaunei, Rashaad Reynolds, Anthony Watkins and Larry Scott.
“From the time Keith played for us, you could tell he was going to be a coach,” says Riley, now retired and living in Corvallis. “He had the combination of football intelligence and innate ability that made him a very reliable player. You could always count on him being smart in the secondary — such an important attribute at that position.
“And that carried over to Keith’s coaching for us during that stretch when we had some great defenses in the late 2000s. We had some guys who were overlooked in the recruiting process, but they were good players, and he was able to help them develop their talent. He did a great job for us.”
Says Heyward: “We had a lot of talent in those years. It was a good run. We did a good job of identifying who could fit in our program — those blue-collar, hard-working guys. A coach has to do a good job teaching and communicating. As a player, you have to do a really good job listening. I am thankful that they listened.”
Heyward played for Riley and Dennis Erickson and coached with the likes of Riley, Steve Sarkisian, Bobby Petrino, Cristobal and Justin Wilcox. Who was the biggest influence in Heyward’s coaching career?
“With every stop, you learn something,” he says. “You find things that you like and want to do, and things you don’t like and don’t want to do. I have tried to collect all the good things. You try to fit that to your personality and style and the way you coach. All of those guys have shaped the way I have coached and developed. I have found a lot of good value in all the experiences they brought to me.”
After UNLV fired Arroyo following the 2022 campaign, Heyward found himself out of a job. He was hired by the Raiders to help defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and secondary coaches Chris Ash and Jason Simmons. It was a strange season. Head coach Josh McDaniel was fired at midseason and Antonio Pierce was named interim head coach. The Raiders finished 8-9 and out of the playoffs but tied for second place in the AFC West with Denver, and the club rehired Pierce for 2024.
“The NFL is awesome,” Heyward says. “It is a different game, with all the people and the personnel. It is football all day. You have the time and opportunity to get really good at your craft. You study so many different things that are unique to your position or situation.”
Heyward and the other quality control coach on defense, Matt Feeney, were in charge of scheduling defensive practice sessions during the week.
“The coaches would brainstorm and talk about stuff, and we would take notes,” Heyward says. “We would sit in there with Coach Graham and his staff and put it all together in a playbook. It was like doing it from scratch.
“It was great experience for me. The role I was in was like a high-level college grad assistant type, where you do everything. (Raider officials) were worried about whether I would be humble enough to do the grunt work. But when you build it from the front, you learn everything — the ‘why’ and the ‘when.’ A lot of good lessons came out of it.”
Heyward is now imparting lessons on Oregon State’s defensive players. Spring drills went well, he says.
“We did a good job beginning to build our identity,” he says. “I’m going to harp on that a little more with the players — the attack style we are looking for, the relentlessness you need. The kids did a good job taking coaching. It was a lot of fun. We have great kids who work hard. It was a good spring.”
While the most experience is in the secondary, Heyward found things to like in every position group.
“The secondary has some good pieces, but we have to stay healthy,” he says. “The inside linebackers are good, and we have some long bodies on the edge at outside linebacker. Aside from (Semis) Saluni, our group on the D-line is a collection of young guys growing and eager to be developed. As a whole, I am encouraged with what we did in the spring.”
Asked for names of players to single out, Heyward offered quite a few.
“At inside ‘backer, (6-foot, 225-pound redshirt freshman) Isaiah Chism and (5-11, 225-pound sophomore) Melvyn Jordan,” Heyward says. “In the secondary, we have several vocal leaders. (6-foot, 190-pound senior) Jaden Robinson is one, but also (6-2, 225-pound junior) Skyler Thomas, (6-2, 215-pound senior) Alton Julian and (5-10, 180-pound junior) Jack Kane. All of them demand the standard of play we need.”
Heyward expects big things from sophomore inside linebacker Melvyn Jordan (courtesy OSU sports communications)
Thomas and Julian both missed last season following knee surgery.
“Skyler practiced in the spring and should be good to go,” Heyward says. “Alton is working his way back. I’m hopeful he will be fine.”
Heyward mentioned four others in the secondary: 5-11, 180-pound sophomore Noble Thomas, 5-10, 180-pound redshirt freshman Sal Vadrawele, 5-11, 185-pound senior Kobe Singleton and 6-foot, 185-pound junior Mason White. Vadrawele (California), Singleton (Liberty) and White (TCU) are transfers.
“We have good talent back there,” Heyward says. “We just have to make sure we execute.”
Besides Chism and Jordan, 6-1, 205-pound junior Gyriece Goodman and 6-1, 225-pound junior Aiden Sullivan should see plenty of duty at inside ‘backer. “They are explosive, physical players,” Heyward says.
Saluni, a 6-3, 295-pound senior, has been a backup on the D-line for three years but could be ticketed for starting duty this season. Heyward also mentioned a pair of outside ‘backers — 6-5, 255-pound senior Nikko Taylor and 6-4, 235-pound redshirt freshman Zekieh Saez.
Heyward’s wife, the former Cameo Davis, ran track at Oregon. Their daughters, Kendal and Kamryn, are 11 and 8. They are settling into Corvallis for the first time. For Keith, it’s like old times.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” he says.
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