Getting to know new LB coach Trent Bray
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New Nebraska head coach Mike Riley's coaching staff is nearly complete - the receivers coach is the only spot left to fill - and the new hires met with the media for the first time last Thursday afternoon. HuskerOnline.com spoke with all eight NU assistants and will be running the interviews to help fans get familiar with their new coaches.
Today we get to know new linebackers coach Trent Bray who played for Riley and spent three seasons working under Riley as Oregon State's linebackers coach, two seasons as Arizona State's linebacker coach and spent one season as an assistant coach in the United Football League.
What did you learn coaching against Riley while at ASU?
"How good of an offensive coach he is. They were always hard to prepare for, hard to play against. His teams have always been maybe not the most talented because of where he was at, but always - you knew you were going to get the best out of them.
"We're excited to be at a place like Nebraska with the resources Nebraska has and the talent Nebraska has and to go out there and get that same thing from them. He demands the best and gets the best out of his players and that's why it's been so great to work for him."
What was the biggest draw to come to Nebraska?
"The biggest to me was to continue to work for Coach Riley. Then after that it was Nebraska. As a kid you watched them on TV, you know about their football history and all of the great players and great teams they've had. The opportunity to work at a place like this was very intriguing and exciting."
Did he call you to offer you the job?
"He called me. I was on the road recruiting in New Orleans and I was in a hotel room when he called me and asked me and it took about a second to say, 'Yes'. I was very excited when he called."
What areas to you have recruiting ties to?
"I've recruited California, Colorado, Texas, and I've done a little in Louisiana. So in my short career I've recruited a lot of different areas and a lot of different types of areas."
Where do you see yourself recruiting and would you consider it a strength of your?
"I hope I stay in Texas. I think the best thing I do is just create relationships with kids. I can relate to them, my age helps me there. Then just being honest with them and using my experience as a college athlete, a football player, a linebacker to kind of help them through some of the things that come with being recruited and the stress that goes on with it."
What do you look for out of a linebacker recruit?
"No. 1 is speed. We need athletes and guys that can run, especially with the offenses we face now. So that's the first thing. Then, how are they as a football player? How are they as a teammate? You've got to gather a lot of information about who they are.
"Character is important and it's always been important for us because bad character people will let you down in big games. I think that's why we won a lot of big games at Oregon State against teams that we shouldn't have because we had good character guys that you could rely on to be in the right spots when it mattered. So that's a big part of recruiting for us."
Have you thought about the different types of players you'll have to recruit to the Big Ten?
"Absolutely, just the area you recruit changes because now you're playing in different places. So we've got to be more in the Midwest and make sure to get the players from this area and not let them go other places. We also have to get guys because we can have a national reach. You've got to make sure you take care of the guys close, get the best players in the area. Then fill the other holes with the guys that are out there in Texas, California, Florida, and the South. That's our plan."
Why do you hope you continue to recruit in Texas?
"I like the way that they play. They are well coached, that are coached hard down there. A lot of those guys in Texas, when they get here those programs are so much like college programs that there's not a big transition for them. That's just been something that I've noticed over the last three years that I've been in the state. I've been in Dallas (during that time). I've enjoyed recruiting down there."
What is your philosophy on defense or with your linebackers?
"The basic philosophy is we want to be the most disciplined, hardest working team. It goes to the way we practice, the energy when we go out and play. When we watch film we always talk about when the frame ends, you should be in it. That's our goal. You may not be making the play, but you better be around the ball.
"Effort, that's a huge part about what we talk about and what we preach because that takes care of a lot of things. You can make a mistake, but if you're going 100 miles an hour you can make up for it. Playing fast is something that you'll hear me say a lot and all of that goes into it. So playing eyes right and playing with confidence so you can play fast. That's kind of what we are on defense, we allow our guys to play fast and we're only going to coach and do what they can do. We don't want to do too much. We don't want to do too little, but we don't want to do too much.
"So that's all kind of the line you've got to ride. What can you do so that they can be the best they can be and put them in a position to be successful?"
It's early, but what are your thoughts on some of the guys you've inherited at the linebacker position?
"It is early, I've watched some film, I've watched the bowl game and there's guys to be excited about. I'm looking forward to getting to talk to them in the next week, but I'm excited about them. I'm excited about the new kid, Dedrick Young from Arizona.
"I'm excited about the opportunity. Numbers wise we're a little thin, but that's alright, we'll bring guys in. I'm excited about the talent that's here that we have to work with."
With the numbers being small, it Young a guy that can make an early impact?
"Absolutely. He will be given the opportunity and that's how we talked to him when we got the job. He'll have an opportunity to show what he can do and from there it's on him."
Who are some people who have had a big influence on you in terms of how you coach?
"My father (Craig Bray) has been the biggest (influence). He's been a defensive coach his whole life. Bill Doba, who is the old defensive coordinator at Washington State and the linebackers coach there was a huge influence on me."
Have you had conversations with your dad since getting the job?
"Absolutely. The first one was when Coach Riley got the job he called me up and asked me what I was going to do. Before I could even answer he said, 'You're going to go to Nebraska if you ask me' and I I said, 'OK'. So that was the first one.
"He's always been great because I can always call him and I can always bounce things off of him. There are certain things that he did maybe when a player was struggling. I can ask him, 'How did you deal with it? How did you do it?' Just the 30 years of knowledge and experience, he's always been there to help me. It's always been a great asset for me."
Where did your father coach?
"In the PAC-12 he coached at Washington State with Mike Price. He was with Dennis Erickson at Washington State, for a little bit at Miami. At Oregon State he was the defensive coordinator with Dennis Erickson. He was the defensive coordinator with Erickson at Arizona State. Then he was at Colorado with Gary Barnett."
Where you always around him as a little kid?
"All of the time. I was at practice. I was probably around too much as a little kid. I was around all of the time."
When did you know you wanted to be a coach?
"I knew since high school that whenever I was done playing - whenever that might be - that I wanted to be a coach. Then right when I got done playing I got an opportunity with Coach Erickson at Arizona State to be a Graduate Assistant and I jumped on it."
Did you have it in your mind that you'd like to coach for Riley after having played for him?
"Yes, I had always hoped so. He helped me get my first job. He actually helped me with Coach Erickson to get me that job. He's always helped me to get jobs and I was just kind of waiting for an opportunity to come work for him and I always stayed in touch. When the opportunity came I jumped on it and it's been the best thing that I've done."
Does anything change in how you approach your job from being at Oregon State to now at Nebraska?
"I don't think it changes because I've always attacked and given everything I have. The part that will be different is just learning the new people, the new players. You know, what are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What can they do as opposed to the kids I had at Oregon State? What can they do better, what do we have to work on?
"That's really the part that changes, the people. It's all about how do you get the best out of those people."
Have you been a press box guy or a sideline guy?
"I've done both. I've been on the sideline the last couple of years at Oregon State. I would imagine that I'll be on the field (at Nebraska) because that's what I've done the whole time I've been with Coach Riley."
Do you have a family that you had to consider when you took the job?
"No, so that made it easier for than maybe some other people."
How was that for Coach Riley since he had been in one place for so long?
"Coach Riley has been offered a ton of jobs since he's been at Oregon State. I just think he felt it was time to try something new. He'd done so many great things at Oregon State and it was time to try something new. For him, for where he was at in his career the opportunity was either take it or leave it and obviously at a place like this it was a pretty great opportunity.
"So he made (the decision) and when he did we were all happy for him and excited about it too. We were ready for something new as well."
Have you considered what the big picture is as a coach and did that play a role in you coming here?
"Yeah there's always part of that, to be honest. Being at a place like Nebraska and winning at a place like Nebraska will help everyone. I haven't put too much thought into it, but yeah it crosses your mind. I mean, this opportunity is good for my career, there's no question about it."
Where did you watch the bowl game and what did you see that was encouraging to you?
"I watched the game in Washington with my family. I thought the way they played, they played hard. There was a moment in the game when they were down by a couple of scores that they could have quit. You know, they had just lost their coach and there was adversity. They fought through the adversity and they came back and had a chance to win the game. I thought that was probably the best thing that I saw about that game. It was very encouraging."
As far as running a 3-4 or a 4-3, does that matter to you?
"It doesn't matter to me. Whatever we're in and whoever is on the field, we've got to coach them and get them to do the right things and be in the right spots and play with everything that they've got."
What linebacker position did you play as a player?
"I played all three (positions) in a 4-3. So I have experience in all three."
Talk about you experience being in the UFL and what you learned there.
"What was great about that was working for Dennis Green. I mean, he's had a legendary NFL coach and just learning kind of a new way of leadership really. The way that he handled things and the way that he handled his business. Then you just learn from new people. I worked with people that I've never worked with before because I think I was only 25 at the time. It was just a great experience, a great learning experience and just adding on more information on to what I kind of already knew and was learning from other people."
Have you had a chance to talk with any of the current players?
"Yes, I've met with I think every single one, the scholarship kids. I haven't had a chance to meet with every one of the walk-ons in the program, but I will do that next week. I met with all of the scholarship kids. They've all come up and met with me and talked with me.
"They seem like great kids. I've met with some of the safeties, d-linemen as well and they all seem like great kids and they are all eager to get going and to see what this is all about and get to work and we are too."
What's the hardest part about the transition?
"The hardest part I think is that they have relationships with the old coaches like we all did. I went through the same transition when Coach Riley came to Oregon State when I was a player. You have to respect the work that was done by the previous staff and their relationship with them. But at the same time, the future is what we're all about. It's about moving forward. You've got to gain their trust. Like Coach Riley said, it's not going to happen overnight, but as you keep going and you work with them and the things that you tell them and help them with - they'll see the success that they have because of it. That will go a long ways in helping to earn their trust."
Your age may help you with recruiting, but does it help with current players too?
"It has in the past, yes. I think that there is a comfortable level that they may have with me that they might not have with an older staff member. I've always had great relationships with all of the players on the team - offense or defense. I think there is something to that (age). I think that being not too far removed from the game they feel that they can come to you and talk about some of the different stuff than other people."
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