Bray: Last year, the question was, “Are you open to being a head coach?” And to me that was, “Are you looking to be a head coach somewhere?” I was not. I wanted to stay at Oregon State and continue what we’ve done here. When the opportunity was presented to be the head coach at Oregon State, that’s when it became a real, OK, this is what I want to do. This is the program I want to lead, the only program I would want to be a head coach at. So I’m very excited for this opportunity.
Q: You had a lot of players come out in support of you. They wanted you to be the guy. What does that mean to have the backing of the players?
Bray: Like I said, I just appreciate them. It means a ton because that’s what we do this for. That’s what we coach for is the players and our job is to help them be better versions of themselves. To have them feel that I’m the guy to do that and the trust that they have in me to do that was remarkable and I appreciate them very much.
Bray: Yeah, as of right now, all the work that I have to get done to build a staff, recruiting. I don’t feel that I can give the correct amount of time to these players that they need to go out and play the way they’re capable of playing. And I have total trust in Coach Kefense (Hynson) and the rest of the coaches that are here to lead them on the field and am very anxious and looking forward to watching them play
Q: What is your philosophy when it comes to recruiting?
Bray: We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to be aggressive in trying to acquire talent
Barnes: That’s a surprise. Aggressive? (Laughs.
Bray: We feel this a great place and there’s a lot of great stuff because of a lot of people being gracious and their donations and their support. We got great facilities, great coaches, and that’s only going to get better. The coaching staff is going to be remarkable. I’m excited about the guys that are interested, and the interest that I’ve had, just hundreds of texts and calls of interest from people all over the country. And so I’m excited about what we’re going to build here and continue to build here.
Bray: I’ve talked to a couple about staying and they have expressed to me they want to. I’ll probably build an offensive staff faster. Being the opposite side of the ball. I can sell the defense, I know what we’re going to do. But we’ll try to put it together as fast as it needs to be done without, we’re not going to rush it and put together a staff that’s not 100% the right staff, and I feel confident that we’ll get that done.
Bray: Scott laid out a perfect picture of where this university is and where it’s going. And that was a big selling point to me when we first sat down, about the strength of where we’re at, where we’re going, and what we can do here in the future. And that’s the big reason that I’m sitting here today is because I believe in what’s going on here. I believe in what our administration is doing, the fan base is doing, the players that we have here to play and excited to get it done.
Bray: There’s a group of coaches that have committed to staying through the bowl game and appreciative to them to do that. And then we’ll maneuver around that as we bring coaches in that have to do their work here at Oregon State, but they have been committed to finishing out this process with them.
Q: Coach, obviously you had the opportunity to potentially remain as just the defensive coordinator here at Oregon State. What made you feel like you were ready to take that next step and be the head coach of this program
Bray: A little bit of a sense of responsibility to this place for its care, to make sure that this place continues to go in the direction that we know this place is, which is a top program in the country. And so when I was offered that responsibility to make that happen, I took great pride in getting that done.
Q: You mentioned recruiting, but how important will it be to re-recruit members of the current roster? How much time will you be spending on doing that and what will your pitch kind of be to the current members of the roster to stick around?
Bray: I think that’s college football in general nowadays. You’ve got to recruit your roster every year just as hard as you recruit new players to your roster. And it’s really painting a picture for them of where we’re going and what we’re going to do and making them feel good about the place that they’re in. And then from there, it’s the trust and relationships that you build that you hope make them want to stick around, they feel valued in your program.
Q: You made a comment last night to the players about the College Football Playoff and how you felt like the program is as close as it’s ever been. What leads you to believe that and how much of a selling point will that be to players and recruits?
Bray: I hope it’s a big one because I truly believe it with what we’ve done, the players that are in this building right now. We are more than capable of getting to the College Football Playoff with this expansion next year. We’re excited to go out on the field and do it, and I think they’re excited to take that step with me and I’m excited to take it with them.
Bray: I think it’s always good thing when you know this place. You know how it operates you know its strengths, you know the things that you’ve got to improve. I think that’s probably my biggest advantage. Knowing this place, the landscape, what it’s like to recruit here, I’ve recruited here for many years. And then the relationships with the players and the community and the fan base is a tremendous asset of mine. And continuing to push that and make this place better.
Bray: Yeah, that was a big part in my interest in this is, one, again the players is where it started, making sure that I took care of them and this university. And so it was overwhelming, to be honest, when that was the reception, and very thankful to them for having that belief.
Barnes: Yeah, a little bit like herding cats right now, but very soon. It’s a model that would be six Group of Five (games), five Power Five (games) and then an FCS, which as Trent and I have talked about is a really exciting path to an expanded playoff potential spot. What’ll happen is we’ll have an announcement of a bulk of that soon. And then, until the ink dries, you can’t really announce games. So there’ll be a couple that trickle in afterwards. So you’ll hear an announcement very soon on a portion of that.
Q: Trent, there was a press conference yesterday at Michigan State where the coach seemed to really emphasize that he was at a place where he truly believed that he can build a winner. My question is, one when did you know that he was going to be leaving? And do you truly believe that you can build a winner here?
Bray: I’ll start with the latter. Yeah, I truly believe we can continue to build a winner here. I think we’ve proven over the last couple of years to be capable of doing that. I found out real late in the process and it didn’t sit quite right with me, which is why I wasn’t in a hurry to get on the plane when he asked me to go. And then when I was presented this opportunity, I stayed even longer and wanted to hear this out and see where this could go and, best decision I’ve made
Q: Scott, you mentioned Trent being you know a players’ coach, having that connection with the players. How many conversations did you have with those guys on an individual group basis and how much did that influence your decision to promote Trent?
