Bray leading Beavers’ defense

Not many opposing players make courtesy calls to the head coach of a conference foe, especially three weeks before a game.

But then, the relationship between Oregon State linebacker Trent Bray and Washington State coach Bill Doba isn’t exactly the norm in college football.

Bray grew up in Pullman, and his father, Craig, was a WSU assistant alongside Doba from 1994-1999. And had Craig Bray’s tenure with the Cougars lasted one year longer, his son almost certainly would have donned crimson for his collegiate career.

But Bray jumped to the Beavers when his son was just getting ready to make a final collegiate choice, and Trent followed suit, changing his mind after verbally committing to the Cougars.

The junior still visits Pullman often to see his friends from high school. He even got a little advance scouting work done by attending the WSU-Oregon game two weeks ago when his team had a bye, also giving him the opportunity to visit with Doba.

“I watched him in junior high,” Doba said, explaining how the Beavers’ run to a BCS game in 2000 helped change the linebacker’s mind. “I just think his father wanted him to play for him, and I understand that. So he came in after the Fiesta Bowl, and said, Guess what? I’m going to go to Oregon State.’ It was a surprise because he was really solid that he wanted to be a Coug.”

Unfortunately for the younger Bray, his father ended up changing jobs again once former Oregon State head coach Dennis Erickson took a job in the NFL — the elder Bray is now the secondary coach at Colorado. But that doesn’t mean his son regrets the decision to leave his hometown for college.

“When I first got here, we had a rough season and it crossed my mind,” Bray said. “But I don’t think about it too much.”

Bray certainly has made an impact for his new head coach, Mike Riley. As a sophomore, the middle linebacker recorded 76 tackles, 12.5 of them for losses. And this year, he already has 65 tackles in six games, the third-most of any player in the Pac-10.

“He makes a ton of plays for us and does it because of two reasons,” Riley said. “He’s well-prepared, first of all, he studies hard and really, really enjoys that part of the game. And then he’s got great instincts and awareness, which I’m sure are helped by the preparation.”

Many of Bray’s high school classmates are now WSU students, and he has no doubt about who they’ll be cheering for come Saturday.

“They’re always giving me a hard time,” Bray said. “I know they’re not going to (root for me), but I told them they got to wear at least one piece of Oregon State clothing.”