Oregon State’s Trent Bray joins the growing list of college football head coaches this season. He will have to bid the Beavers goodbye after just 1.5 years as HC. In his place comes Robb Akey, who was formerly the Special Assistant to the Head Coach at Oregon State. He’s spent quite some time as a head coach, emerging as the best bet to take over for Bray midseason.

Akey takes on the HC cap at Corvallis, carrying 7 years of experience in the position at Idaho. He has a 20-50 record from this stint and has held numerous positions elsewhere in his career. Akey has also coached in the NFL. He has coached for defensive units in his 35 years of coaching, bringing a lot to the table at Oregon State.

Robb Akey, along with being special assistant, had also just assumed charge of special teams after Jamie Christian was fired midseason. But now, he has an even bigger role to take care of. Here’s a quick look at Robb Akey’s career so far.

Robb Akey’s Early Life and Playing Career

Robb Akey was born in Colorado Springs on July 24, 1966. He played football, baseball, and basketball during his high school years, and also earned state honors. Akey played football at Weber State from 1984 to 1987. In his senior year, Akey earned a First Team All-Big Sky nod and an All-American honor as DE in 1987. He recorded a tied team-high record of 15 sacks in his senior season. Robb Akey chose to give a pro career a miss, and jumped straight into coaching.

Akey became an assistant D-line coach at Weber State the very next year, in 1988. He was later promoted to D-line coach, and also took on special teams coaching. He was part of the team that reached the FCS playoffs in 1991. Robb Akey then moved to Northern Arizona in 1995, and rose up to the program’s DC in 1996. From here, he went to Washington State in 1998.

Robb Akey’s Rise at Washington State Under Mike Price and Bill Doba

At Washington State, Akey reunited with his high-school football coach, Mike Price. Akey was bumped up to DC here, after producing a setting a program record of 55 sacks in the 2002 season. In his first season as DC, he created a defense that led the nation in takeaways at 48 and in fumble recoveries (24). He also mentored the Outland Trophy winner Rien Long, who went on to play briefly for Tennessee in the NFL. Washington State also won a Pac-10 Championship and hauled in 3 Top-10 mentions in the AP Poll during Akey’s stint with the program. He saw these successes under Bill Doba, who also shared the Pac-10 Coach of the Year award with Pete Carroll. Robb Akey’s prowess paved the way for him to take on bigger responsibilities.

Rob Akey’s Experience with Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins and Florida

Robb Akey made the jump to the NFL after 7 years of being Idaho’s head coach. He spent one season with Minnesota, as Assistant D-line coach, in 2014. Akey then moved to Washington, where he helped bring in the 2015 AFC East divisional title. He spent one more year with the franchise, before making a return to college football in 2017 with Florida. At Gainesville, he served as defensive line coach to Jim McElwain, with whom he later reunited at Central Michigan soon after.

Why Robb Akey is chosen as Trent Bray’s replacement and What to Expect

A big reason why Robb Akey got the interim job at Oregon State is because of his tenure as HC at Idaho. His 20-50 record isn’t exactly appealing, but Akey has still brought in some good results. In 2009, Akey produced an 8-5 finish, along with a win at the Humanitarian Bowl. That victory was only the second ever in program history. Akey came to Central Michigan where he continued showing his genius as a defensive line coach. He ultimately became the DC of the Chippewas. He has coached players like Thomas Incoom here.

Akey was brought on as an important hire to Oregon State. Trent Bray was attempting a comeback for the Beavers from the past season, but it just wasn’t panning out for him. He wasn’t able to record a single win this year, hauling in 7 straight losses since the beginning of the season. Bray had recorded 7 losses in 2024 as well, but had also brought in 5 wins. A repeat of this number for the second straight year was intolerable for Beaver Nation.

Now, Robb Akey is charged to win the remaining 5. His biggest task is re-instilling confidence in the locker room, as players have reportedly quit the team under Bray’s leadership. Akey should face an easy competition against Lafayette next week, since it is an FCS program. But it gets a little difficult for him from then onwards, since Washington State is lined up next. Akey has to make do with whatever is left of Oregon State to succeed in this new mission.