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With the Oregon State football team about to enter the final week of spring football, BeaversEdge looks at how spring progress is going in this in-depth notebook...

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One of the bigger coaching shuffles made by head coach Trent Bray this offseason was moving former linebacker coach AJ Cooper to the secondary. The move gave the Beavers two secondary coaches (Rod Chance) and allowed Cooper to further grow his coaching, while allowing Bray and Kharyee Marshall to focus on the linebackers.

"I've been enjoying it," Cooper said. "The transition has been good, obviously there's newer things switching the mindset, but once you get back in the hang of the defense and how it operates, being in a different position has been an advantage for me."

Like Chance, Cooper talked about wanting the same versatility in his defensive backs and how he wants them to be able to play everywhere.

"That's how we recruit... We don't recruit corners, safeties, or nickels, we recruit defensive backs. We want to be able to move guys around and be able to get them on the field and that way they're versatile for the next level as well."

Some of Oregon State's best secondary production in recent seasons came when the Beavers had a DB coach and a secondary coach, and Cooper has talked about how well things have gone with Chance so far.

"It gives the players more attention. Having two voices in the room, more detail on the install, having two guys out there on the circuit as far as working skillsets and things like that. I think Coach Bray did a great job boosting up the staff with veterans to kind of counter the young coaches we have, so it's a great combination. We give our players more attention; they're always in the building, somebody is always here for them, and it's already paying dividends."

After having coached in the secondary earlier in his career, Cooper feels like he has a new perspective on the defense as a whole after spending a couple of seasons coaching linebackers.

"Absolutely... It's not just a birds-eye view, I'm seeing the whole picture and explaining to these guys how the defense works."

While last season's defensive output was certainly a step-down from recent seasons, Cooper says he's already seeing Bray's move to DC paying off and it looks a lot different defensively than a year ago.

"Being sound as a defense... With Coach Bray coming back and having a bigger understanding, these guys are more dialed in to how the defense operates and the moving pieces. Being top-down and just seeing the whole picture, and being able to explain why we do things, and how they're supposed to be executed to make it ours."