Craig Bray begins his fifth season as the Defensive Coordinator and second as safeties coach at Arizona State. Coach enters his 36th season overall in the profession, and the ninth that Bray has worked along side Dennis Erickson. Bray served as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Oregon State from 2000 to 2002, and also as the secondary coach at Washington State from 1987 to 1988.
Bray's 2010 defense was number one against the run in the Pac-10 for the second straight year, and 16th in the country allowing 119.6 yards per game. His defense was also one of the top teams in the nation to force opposing offenses into three-and-out possessions-averaging 4.08 three-and-outs a game, for a total of 49 in their 12 contests. Finally, the Sun Devil defense routinely made tackles for loss or for no gain. His squad finished 2010 with 143 plays that went for negative or no yards, totaling 307 yards lost for the offense.
Bray came to ASU in 2007 after spending the previous season at Minnesota, coaching the defensive secondary for the Golden Gophers. He held the same position at Colorado from 2004 to 2005.
Throughout his career, Bray has coached in nine bowl games, including two New Year's Day bowl games and 10 Division I-AA playoff games during stints with the Idaho Vandals and Nevada Wolfpack. Bray was a member of the Oregon State staff during the 2000 season when the Beavers defeated Notre Dame 41-9 in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. He also was a member of the Washington State staff that earned a Rose Bowl bid during the 1997 season. In 2006, Bray and the Golden Gophers played in the Insight Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.
During his time at Colorado, Bray and the Buffaloes reached consecutive Big 12 Conference Championship games, in addition to the 2004 EV1.net Houston Bowl and the 2005 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Before his time in Boulder, Colo., Bray spent one season at Arizona in 2003 where he coached linebackers.
Prior to his single season in Tucson, Ariz., Bray was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Oregon State from 2000-02. His 2000 defense at OSU ranked as the best in both total and scoring defense in the Pac 10, while ranking 20th and 16th, respectively, in the NCAA. The unit allowed 314 yards per game and set a school record for fewest rushing yards per game at just over 80 yards per outing. In 2001, Bray coached the Beaver defense to a No. 3 ranking in the conference before taking the 2002 unit to a No. 9 ranking nationally in rushing defense and a No. 11 ranking in total defense.
Bray spent the second of two stints at Washington State from 1994-99, where he worked under Mike Price and helped coach the Cougars to the 1994 Alamo Bowl and the 1998 Rose Bowl. Bray first coached at Washington State from 1987-88 under Dennis Erickson and helped lead the Cougars to the 1988 Aloha Bowl where they defeated Houston. Bray first joined Erickson as the defensive backs coach in 1984 at the University of Idaho, where Erickson remained for two seasons before becoming the head coach at the University of Wyoming in 1986. After serving as the Cowboys' secondary coach for one season, Bray moved to Washington State with Erickson in 1987.
Following the 1988 season, Bray moved with Erickson to the University of Miami (Fla.) to serve as the Hurricanes' secondary coach. Following the spring season, Bray returned to the Pacific Northwest to become defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Idaho under John L. Smith. Bray's defense at Idaho quickly became one of the best in the Big Sky Conference, recording a conference-best 29 interceptions in 1990 before leading the league and ranking seventh nationally in total defense during the 1992 season.
Bray got his first coaching job at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas following his graduation in 1975. He spent one season coaching the Rebels' wide receivers before moving to Nevada-Reno in 1976 where he coached wide receivers for one year. Bray coached running backs at Nevada-Reno for one year in 1977 before moving to defense in 1978, a place he has remained ever since. He coached the Wolfpack's secondary for two years in 1978-79 before spending four more seasons from 1980-83 coaching the secondary at Northern Arizona.
A two-year starter at wide receiver for UNLV, Bray received a degree in education. Bray began his collegiate playing career at the College of Siskiyous where he played two seasons between 1970-72 before transferring to UNLV where he was a two-year starter during the 1973 and 1974 seasons. A native of Yreka, Calif., Bray graduated from Yreka High School where he lettered in football, basketball and track.
Bray is married to the former Kaprice Rupp, a former head volleyball coach at Washington State. The couple has two sons, Josh and Trent.