Oregon State football head coach Trent Bray announced that Ray Pickering has been appointed the team's running backs coach and Will Heck will coach the team's tight ends.

"Ray is a fantastic addition to our coaching staff and I'm excited to have him in Corvallis," Bray said. "He is a veteran coach who gets the best out of his players, proven by his track record at both the college and high school levels."

"Will was an offensive quality control coach for us last season and excelled in his role," Bray said. "He's a Corvallis native who bleeds Orange and Black and is going to lead a talented tight ends position."

Pickering comes to Beaver Nation from Buffalo, where he spent the 2024 season in the same capacity. The Bulls rushed for 2,457 yards as a team, with Al-Jay Henderson surpassing the century mark at 1,078. He finished 35th nationally, just one spot shy of the Beavers' Anthony Hankerson, who tallied 1,082.

Pickering, a native of Laurel, Miss., was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Norfolk State in 2023. The Spartans set a record for rush yards at 1,912 on the year, including a game-high 350 against Towson.

He was an offensive assistant at Texas, where he worked with the offensive line. The Longhorns finished second in the Big 12 Conference in 2022, and helped mentor Freshman All-American Kelvin Banks.

Prior to Texas, Pickering was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Lane College in 2021. Lane had two offensive players named All-Americans that season in addition to four All-Conference selection.

Pickering's season at Lane came after a 13-year tenure coaching at the high school level. His teams played for five state championships, nine South State titles and 11 regional championships.

He is a graduate of Southern Miss, while competing in football and baseball at Alabama State.

Heck is a Corvallis native who spent the 2024 season in an offensive quality control role for the Beavers. He came back to his hometown after spending two seasons as the offensive line coach at Linfield, his alma mater.

Linfield went 18-2 in his two seasons with the program.

Heck was an offensive quality control coach and offensive graduate assistant at California for four seasons. That came after an initial role at Linfield as assistant offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

He was a three-year letterwinner at Linfield and a member of four consecutive Northwest Conference championships. He served as a team captain and was a starter at both guard and center during his career.

Both appointments are contingent on the completion of all university hiring processes.