Imago
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Imago
Close up view of an American Football sitting on a grass football field on the yard line. Generic Sports image . High quality photo xkwx athletics ball field football grass green horizontal american football background copy space culture game lines play recreation sport yard yard line american line pigskin sports white american football league american football player bet big game college competition environment final goal green yard helmet national sport outside sideline soccer sports background sports calendar sports club sports equipment sportswear stadium superbowl team touchdown tradition usa artificial
The architect of one of the most dominant defenses in Pac-10 history, a coach who helped deliver a New Year’s Six bowl win to Oregon State, has passed away, leaving the college football community in mourning.
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Former Oregon State defensive coordinator Craig Bray died at the age of 74 of a heart attack on February 10 in Glen, Montana. Craig is one of the most respected and celebrated defensive coaches, who held multiple roles from the 1980s to the 2000s at schools across the West. He is survived by his wife, Kaprice, and two sons, Josh and Trent.
His son, Trent Bray, is the defensive coordinator for Washington State, who played for his father at Oregon State as a linebacker from 2002 to 2005. Trent credits his father’s sacrifice as the reason for his interest in football.
“The reason I do what I do is because of him,” Trent Bray said about his father, Craig. “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. He got out of coaching instead of going to Miami to not raise us in Miami and keep us up in Pullman. He was ready to get out to sacrifice for us, so I’m appreciative of that.”
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Craig was a multi-sport specialist at Yreka High School. He played football at the College of Siskiyous for two years before transferring to UNLV, where he was the starting receiver. Upon graduating in 1975, he began his coaching career at his alma mater, spending his first two years as receivers coach and the next two as secondary coach.
He built a reputation as a defensive guru across the West, making stops at Northern Arizona and Washington State before joining Dennis Erickson’s celebrated staff at Miami in 1989. He spent most of his time on Dennis Erickson’s staff before taking over Oregon State’s DC role from 2000 to 2002. He played a crucial role in building the Beavers’ defense, which ranked among the Pac-10’s best. He was part of the Beavers’ 2000 Fiesta Bowl-winning team. The victory over Notre Dame is still being praised and cherished.
“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.”
Some sad news: Craig Bray, DC of Oregon State’s famed 2001 Fiesta Bowl team and father of former Beavers coach Trent Bray, died earlier this week. We’ll have an obit of Craig up shortly on OregonLive.
— Nick Daschel (@nickdaschel) February 14, 2026
He served the latter part of his career at stops in Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota before joining Erickson as ASU’s DC from 2007 to 2011. The duo led the Pac-12 in rush defense in 2009 and 2010, which ranked 16th nationally.
As much as he loved football, he loved spending time outdoors and with his family. He spent the last ten years of his career as a consultant at Montana Western, where his wife served as assistant volleyball coach. They bought a house there and built a lot of friend circles there, which were considered the most beautiful days of his life.
“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 Bray said. “He was very active and loved the people he met there.”
As the family and friends celebrate his life, fans pour prayers and support to their family in this tough time.
Prayers & support pour for Craig Bray’s family
The news prompted an immediate outpouring of support online, with fans expressing shock and offering heartfelt prayers for the Bray family during their time of loss.
One fan wrote, “Very sad news,” and some reacted to their raw shock of the moment with short responses like, “Damn…” and “Oh damn, terrible.” The rest of the Oregon State fans and the people who knew the Bray family kept them in their prayers. Fans wrote, “Prayers for the Bray family” and “Prayers to the Bray family on their loss.”
Some, who knew Trent and had been close to him, directed their thoughts specifically toward him, posting, “Very sad news! Our thoughts and prayers are with Trent and his family!” All the messages showed that the football community mourns together with his wife, Kaprice, and his sons, Josh and Trent, as they remember a legendary coach.