Oregon State is moving on from head coach Trent Bray seven games into his second season at the helm of his alma mater. Bray played for Oregon State from 2002-05, was a GA for the Beavers from 2012-14, followed Mike Riley to Nebraska for three unfortunate seasons, and then returned as quick as he could. He's been with the program continuously since 2018 -- four seasons as the linebackers coach, two as defensive coordinator, and then one and a half as head coach.
So, Sunday is a painful one for the program and its now-former head coach. Painful, but necessary.
And for the fifth time in this 7-week season thus far, we're here to provide a coaching autopsy.
What was the high point? Nov. 23, 2024: Oregon State 41, Washington State 38. The Beavers won the unofficial Pac-12 championship before a crowd of 38,000, and I'm not even 0.1 percent joking when I say the program should celebrate the conference championship within the walls of its football building and on the facade of Reser Stadium. It's not their fault the Pac-12 disinigrated around them. The Beavers' last conference championship before that came in 2000, and their last outright conference title was won in 1956. Claim the 2024 Pac-12 championship, who's going to stop you?
What was the low point? Flying across the country has proven to be a difficult endeavor in a world where the Big Ten and ACC now touch the Pacific coast. Just ask Penn State or Michigan. It wasn't difficult at all for Wake Forest, putting the Bray era to bed with a 39-14 win on Saturday.
What did Bray get right? I don't want this to sound trite, but Bray did an admirable thing simply by taking the job. Alum Jonathan Smith left for a mid-tier Big Ten job after the Pac-12 dissolved, where he's well on his way to his own eventual firing (Michigan State is 3-9 in B1G play under Smith.) I'll let the Oregon State faithful decide whether Smith is still embraced moving forward, but Bray absolutely should be. "I want to thank Coach Bray for the energy and determination he brought to the role. A former student-athlete, proud graduate, Trent's connection to Oregon State runs deep -- he will always be a Beaver," AD Scott Barnes said Sunday.
What did Bray get wrong? Obviously, a whole lot had to go wrong for the Beavers to move on from an alum after winning just five of 19 games. But, Bray's side of the ball fell from respectable-to-good (41st and 55th in yards per play allowed) to among the worst in the country. The Beavers tied for 123rd in yards per play last season and are 132nd today. This statistic is skewed given that they are one of the few teams to play seven games so far, but no one in the country has surrendered more points than Oregon State's 249.
What did Oregon State get right and wrong? Bray was beaten to the unemployment line by Foster, who lasted only 15 games to Bray's 19. But the circumstances were the same. In a time of frightening transition where their head coaches took the easy way out (and also the smart career move, the two are not mutually exclusive), the programs themselves made path-of-least-resistance hires by promoting alums with zero head coaching experience, largely because they happened to be in the building.
Where does Bray go from here? Still only 43, Bray will be a valued edition to the defensive staff wherever he lands. The next head coaches at Stanford and UCLA would be wise to gauge his interest in joining their staff.
Where does Oregon State go from here? The Bray hire was made under duress, in a time where Oregon State looked to prevent a complete internal collapse. Now, the team is 0-7 and moving into the next phase as a full-fledged Group of 6 program. Oregon State should, and will, run a prolonged search in which AD Barnes learns good and well how the market views his job. Paying a visit to Berkeley to gauge the interest of Bryan Harsin and/or Nick Rolovich wouldn't be a bad start.