Signing Day Q&A With Oregon State Head Coach Trent Bray

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BeaversEdge Publisher Brenden Slaughter caught up with Oregon State head coach Trent Bray following signing day 2.0 to get his thoughts on the class, expectations for spring, and much much more!

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Trent Bray: "I feel great about it... I feel like we addressed the initial needs of guys who can come in and play right away. And then feel really good about the young guys and their development here. A lot of them have high ceilings and are just at the beginning of their potential and so that's always exciting at a place like this where development is a big part of what we do."

TB: "It's been better than I thought. You know, the lessons learned from the past as far as the guys that were committed to the old staff is, you know, don't worry about that. You know, some are going to leave. Some are going to stay. Don't be committed to anything.

You know, you've got to make sure that the guys we take are the guys that we like and guys that fit our system. And we feel we did that with the guys we kept from the old commitments. But more importantly, you know, the guys we've replaced, the guys that took off, those guys fit what we want to do. They fit the skill set we're looking for.

And so I feel really good about, you know, kind of how we piece this thing together. together as it went. I was very impressed with their ability to see the vision and the potential and opportunity this place has, both portal guys and high school guys. It's been actually a really fun process to see guys see that from all over the country."

TB: "Yeah, I think that the initial, and that probably, that scared some of our guys that left in the portal away because they left when there was no conference, no schedule, no one knew anything. They kind of panicked. When you sat back and looked at it and saw what this opportunity over these next two years are, it's actually a great opportunity and a lot better than if we had joined the Big Ten with Washington and Oregon because, I mean, that's going to be brutal. And so the opportunity for us to get to where we want to go at the end of the year is better now than it would have been had we followed those guys at that conference."

TB: "Oh, no question. I think so. And then, you know, in two years, it's going to all realign again and all that stuff. But over these next two years, I think definitely being patient, not panicking, sitting back, let's see where this thing is. And it's a really good opportunity for us, probably better than had we stayed in the Pac-12."

TB: "We feel that it's pretty complete. There may be one or two spots where we go back in the portal for, but 95% of it is complete and we feel really good about the guys who are here and working."

TB: "Yeah I think that coach Kefense Hynson staying here was a big part of that. Having some continuity here and knowing that's the guy who has been recruiting him anyway. Then when we got him on campus and sold him on that vision, he saw his opportunity in that vision. He was all onboard when he left and that was great to see."

TB: "Yeah I feel great about those guys. I like the spacing between their ages. I like the fact that Gevani is a proven winner. He's done it at the, at the FCS, which we all know, great players come out of there and great players transfer out of there and kill it in a power five all the time. Love his skillset and the same thing with Gabarri. He's got a, he's got the skillset we and (offensive coordinator) Ryan Gunderson's looking for, which is why we're excited about both those guys. And then you, you still have Ben (Gulbranson) who's won a ton of games for us, and Travis, who's a young player as well. So I think we're, we're as good as we've been at quarterback as a whole, probably since we've been here."

TB: "Not as much under center, that's number one... we're going to do more, with the passing game, we're always going to be heavy run with, with Damien and that backfield we have is pretty impressive. But teams aren't going to be able to load the box like they have been against us in the past because we couldn't win throwing and we're going to be able to win throwing and do more schematically to create wins in the passing game than we have in the past. And that was a big emphasis when I was looking for a coordinator, you know, that was the one area we have to improve on is our ability to throw the ball and create explosive plays in the passing game, especially when teams load the box to stop Damien. That, that was a big emphasis for me."

TB: "Oh, no question. The last two years, what's kept us out of that championship game is, uh, is when those teams (load the box). Washington being a great example from last year, is our inability to win throwing. We knew we had to improve that. And, with not only the receivers we've added to the room, the quarterbacks we've added, but also the scheme we're going to be in, it gives us a much better chance for success."

TB: "That is fair... The close to home was a big factor... Opportunity as well. And then when he got on campus and saw the place, met the coaches, saw the vision for the opportunity this place has moving forward and then his opportunity within it. He's, he's a big, long, tall, fast, like he, he's a prototypical wide receiver. You know, now he's got to go out and do it, but from what we've seen of him at this level and at the high school level, there's no doubt in my mind that he's going to help us win games."

TB: "It was big because they are two really talented players. It was, you know, all this happened before signing day they wanted to step back and take a good look. They both came back on a trip and revisited us and wanted to see what this place was going to be about moving forward. They loved what they saw and loved what they were around and we enjoyed, I enjoyed being around them. They're a right fit personality-wise who they are. It was just a good marriage between the two."

TB: "It started for me by having a great relationship with Damien, Jam, and Deshaun Fenwick. So even when Jam left, right, you know, it was, it was sad to see him go, but understand his reasoning at the time. But then when this all happened, once he was in the portal, he just called us and said, would, would you like to have me back? And I was like, uh, yeah, that's a no-brainer. So I'm glad it worked out because I really, you know, love Jam as a person and he's obviously a great player and has had a lot of success for us here. I'm just happy to have him back."

TB: "Yeah, as we learned over the past couple of years, you need at least three guys who can win back there with the amount of pounding that position takes in general. Being able to stay healthy and fresh is key. They also have different skill sets, I mean, Damian's a lot different than Jam or Anthony Hankerson, and Isaiah Newell... And so, they offer something unique that'll throw defenses off and keep them guessing. And, we're going to do stuff with multiple running backs in the game, which is something else that allows them and makes personnel matchups hard for the defense."

TB: "He's a guy that fits kind of the mold of great offensive linemen that have played here at Oregon State. He was a late bloomer and was overlooked because he was really light his junior year, like, 240 pounds. He went through the season, and had a great senior tape. We brought him up here on a visit, he was 275, 280, but it was good weight. Just a big, strong athletic kid that just developed late in high school. And quite frankly, if he developed as he did earlier in his high school career, he probably wouldn't have been able to talk to him. And so very excited about him and, and his, uh, how he fits and excited about what I think he can do here."

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