Craig Bray, the longtime college football coach and defensive mastermind behind Oregon State’s 2001 Fiesta Bowl championship team, passed away Tuesday at the age of 74 after suffering a heart attack in Glen, Montana, where he and his wife, Kaprice, had retired.
Bray leaves behind a deep legacy in the game - one that stretches across decades, multiple programs, and generations of players and coaches. He’s also survived by his wife and two sons, Josh and Trent, both of whom attended Oregon State. Trent Bray, who followed in his father’s coaching footsteps, is currently the defensive coordinator at Washington State after serving as Oregon State’s head coach in 2024 and 2025.
For Trent, football wasn’t just a career path - it was a way of life passed down from his father.
“It’s the reason I do what I do is because of him,” Trent said. “It’s why I got into coaching, why I first started loving football.
I was always at practice and around the office. He was very instrumental in shaping who I am right now.”
Craig Bray’s coaching résumé reads like a blueprint for building elite defenses. As Oregon State’s defensive coordinator from 2000 to 2002, he helped engineer one of the most dominant units in school history. The 2000 Beavers ranked No. 16 nationally in scoring defense and No. 20 in total defense - numbers that don’t just look good on paper, they reflected a team that played fast, physical, and fundamentally sound.
That defense allowed just 314 yards per game and set a program record by holding opponents to just over 80 rushing yards per contest. By 2002, Oregon State had climbed to No. 9 nationally in rushing defense and No. 11 in total defense - a testament to Bray’s system and the way he got his players to buy in.
“He was always big on simplicity is best,” Trent said. “It’s not about what you know; it’s about what the players know.
You got to have enough, but not too much to where you slow them down. That’s a core philosophy I still carry to this day.
You got to let your guys go.”
That philosophy - clear, concise, and player-first - became a hallmark of Bray’s coaching style. It wasn’t about flashy schemes or complex playbooks. It was about execution, trust, and letting athletes play fast.
A native of Yreka, California, Bray was a multi-sport athlete in high school before playing football at College of the Siskiyous and then at UNLV, where he started at receiver and graduated in 1975. His coaching journey began at UNLV and took him across the college football landscape - with stops at Nevada, Northern Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington State, Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, and Arizona State.
It was at Idaho in 1984 that Bray joined forces with Dennis Erickson, a partnership that would span multiple programs and decades. The two reunited at Oregon State in the late ’90s, culminating in that unforgettable 2000 season when the Beavers dominated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
“That 2000 team that beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl was something special,” Erickson said. “They were disciplined.
We didn’t do a lot of different things, but what we did was really good. As a group they played hard and played together and that doesn’t happen all the time.”
Bray’s coaching stops included overseeing the secondary at Colorado and Minnesota, and later serving as defensive coordinator under Erickson at Arizona State from 2007 to 2011. Those Sun Devil defenses were no slouches either - leading the Pac-12 in rush defense in both 2009 and 2010, while ranking 16th nationally.
“He had a great way of calling defenses, great ways of preparing,” Erickson said. “He was so good on game day.
He was tough on them now; he was tough on those players. They had to do the right thing or they would hear him.
Believe me, they would hear him. He had a lot of respect.”
But as much as Bray was known for his intensity on the sideline, he also had a softer side - one rooted in family and sacrifice. When offered the opportunity to follow Erickson to Miami in 1989, Bray instead chose to step away from coaching temporarily to keep his family in Pullman, Washington.
“He got out of coaching instead of going to Miami, to not raise us in Miami and keep us up in Pullman,” Trent said. “He was ready to get out to sacrifice for us, so I’m appreciative of that.”
In retirement, Bray found a new rhythm in Montana. What started as a fishing trip turned into a new chapter of life.
He and Kaprice built a home and a community there. He stayed close to the game, consulting for Montana Western and working with high school players, while Kaprice coached volleyball as recently as 2018.
“His best years might have been the last 10 years he was retired, the friends he made and the life he was living in Montana,” Trent said. “He was very active and loved the people he met there.”
Craig Bray’s impact on the game can be measured in stats, wins, and bowl trophies. But his true legacy lives on through the players he coached, the coaches he mentored, and the son who now carries his coaching philosophy forward.
The Bray family is currently finalizing plans for a celebration of life.