Oregon State Head Coach Trent Bray Speaks Ahead of Spring Ball

Oregon State's second year head coach spoke with the media on the heels of the program's first practice of the Spring

Nov 9, 2024; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers head coach Trent Bray leads the team arrival before the gamet against the San Jose State Spartans at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

The start of spring practice Tuesday offered a day full of firsts for Oregon State, as many new additions to the Oregon State football program went through their first practice as a Beaver.

But for one Beaver, it was a day of seconds.

Oregon State head coach Trent Bray began his second spring camp at the helm in the Valley Football Center. Yesterday, he spoke in a press conference with local reporters, and was asked directly about his second season in charge: “I am much more comfortable, you know what to expect, you know how the day unfolds, how you want the day to look like, and just how you want practice operated”.

Below are some other highlights of Bray’s press conference. The full press conference can be watched on the school's official youtube channel, OSU Beavers Athletics.

On calling the defense in 2025:

“It’s been great. After the first season I asked ‘what can I do? what do I need to do?’ and then I tried to add the pieces around me to make sure I can do it the way I want it done. It’s been great. It’s been fun to get back coaching”.

On his goals for spring camp:

“We’ve got a lot of new guys, then guys that gotta take the next step like Dexter Foster and Sai [Sailasa Vadrawale III], and guys that played a lot last year that need to take that next step, so really it’s getting familiar and drilling down on what we need to be great at on both sides of the ball, then becoming masters of those things so we can build on it when we get to fall camp”.

On fixing the Beavers’ front-seven:

“We’ve gotta affect the passer. That’s a big emphasis this spring, offseason, everything we’re doing. We brought in some guys to add some more depth to that room - that have proven pass rush production in college - so I feel good about where they’re at and looking forward to seeing how they develop as spring goes along.”

On expectations for second year offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson: 

“Hopefully a lot of touchdowns [laughs], you know that’s what I’m hoping for. No, I think he’s just more comfortable - again, year two for him as well, right - year two calling [plays], year two he knows exactly how he wants it to look, what we can fix from a year ago that he didn’t like how it looks, I think that comfortability for him will be that much better.”

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