Oregon State football coach Trent Bray is expanding his role for the upcoming season by taking on the position of defensive coordinator. He announced to The Oregonian/OregonLive that he intends to succeed Keith Heyward Jr., who stepped down from the role on Sunday after just one season with the Beavers.
Trent Bray, who previously served as the Beavers’ defensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023, has been promoted to head coach following Jonathan Smith’s departure to Michigan State after the 2023 season.
The only current FBS coach who also acts as his team’s defensive coordinator is Clark Lea of Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, five FBS coaches hold the title of offensive coordinator: Troy Taylor at Stanford, Sean Lewis at San Diego State, Timmy Chang at Hawaii, Bryant Vincent at Louisiana-Monroe, and Joe Moorhead at Akron.Additionally, Bray will take on the role of inside linebackers coach. He intends to hire an analyst with experience in head coaching and linebackers to support him in these areas during the season. Bray mentioned that he is in discussions with a few candidates and anticipates making a decision within a week.“I wanted to return and establish the system and culture properly. Eventually, I plan to hand it back over,” Bray stated. “For now, my priority is to get things back on track.”Oregon State’s defense, which was among the best in the Pac-12 during the 2022 and 2023 seasons under Bray, experienced a decline last season. The Beavers allowed nearly 400 yards and 30 points per game, placing them in the bottom third of FBS teams.
Bray mentioned that ideally, he would have promoted someone from the defensive staff to the position of defensive coordinator last year. However, most potential candidates followed Smith to Michigan State. Instead, Bray chose Heyward, a coach he had a prior relationship with, although they had not worked together at Oregon State.He recognized the challenges faced by a defensive coordinator coming from outside the program, stating it can be tough to implement someone else’s system. Bray indicated that the defense will undergo some changes starting in 2024.The defensive coaching staff will also see new faces in 2025. Kharyee Marshall is joining as the outside linebackers coach after previously serving as a quality control analyst. AJ Cooper will transition from inside linebackers to the secondary, where he will work alongside Rod Chance. Bray and the analyst he plans to hire will take charge of coaching inside linebackers, while Isaisa Tuiaki will continue as the defensive line coach.
Bray stated, “A lot of consideration went into how the roles of coordinator and head coach would function, as well as my responsibilities as a position coach.”He mentioned that he and Heyward discussed the latter’s situation prior to Christmas, wanting to allow his defensive coordinator time to reflect before making a choice. Bray clarified that the decision for Heyward to resign was entirely his own.Heyward faced personal challenges, including the death of his father before the 2024 season and his mother’s hospitalization for several weeks during that time. Bray noted that there was never any discussion about Heyward taking a leave of absence during the season.“He wanted to finish. He wanted to stay and not step back at that moment,” Bray explained.Regarding the 2024 defense, Bray assessed that the main issue with their performance stemmed from inexperienced players making “young guy mistakes.” He added, “Most of those players are returning this year, which I believe will be beneficial.”
