Spring Break
Welcome back Read
Terry Horstman
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: Sports
Oregon State head football coach Mike Riley was once again successful in bringing in yet another good-looking recruiting class this winter but his biggest addition came two weeks ago when former special teams coach Bruce Read returned to the program to take over his old post.
"We're very excited to welcome Coach Read back to Oregon State," Riley said of the hire. "Coach Read is one of the best special teams coaches in the country, and I look forward to him assisting in the success of this team."
With Read at the helm of special teams, success does indeed seem inevitable; after all, Read was the coach when Alexis Serna won the Heisman Trophy for kickers (the Lou Groza award), he was the coach when Sammie Stroughter became an All-American punt returner in 2006 and now he is returning with even more NFL coaching experience on his resume.
Make no mistake about it - the return of Read is a huge addition for the Oregon State football team. Think back to that 2006 season and that magical run the Beavers made after their disappointing 2-3 start.
If there was any one play that changed the Beavers' season, I think the vote would be Stroughter's 70-yard punt return for a touchdown to sink the third-ranked USC Trojans on Dad's Weekend.
Some of the other plays that may come up in that discussion would be Gerard Lawson's 102-yard kick return for a touchdown to assure the Beaver victory on the road against Colt Brennan and the Hawaii Warriors.
Another one could be Serna's game-winning field goal in the Civil War to put the Beavers on top of the hated Ducks by two points with less than a minute to play.
Or you could stay in the same game and fast-forward to a few seconds later when the Beavers' field goal blocking team knocked down Matt Evenson's game-winning attempt to guarantee the Beavers a Civil War victory and a trip to the Sun Bowl.
In a Sun Bowl during which the big plays did not stop, most notable were Stroughter's punt return that sailed from inside the Beavers' five-yard line all the way to mid-field to set up the Matt-Moore-to-Joe-Newton touchdown pass and the 2-point conversion by the great Yvenson Bernard to win the game.
"We're very excited to welcome Coach Read back to Oregon State," Riley said of the hire. "Coach Read is one of the best special teams coaches in the country, and I look forward to him assisting in the success of this team."
With Read at the helm of special teams, success does indeed seem inevitable; after all, Read was the coach when Alexis Serna won the Heisman Trophy for kickers (the Lou Groza award), he was the coach when Sammie Stroughter became an All-American punt returner in 2006 and now he is returning with even more NFL coaching experience on his resume.
Make no mistake about it - the return of Read is a huge addition for the Oregon State football team. Think back to that 2006 season and that magical run the Beavers made after their disappointing 2-3 start.
If there was any one play that changed the Beavers' season, I think the vote would be Stroughter's 70-yard punt return for a touchdown to sink the third-ranked USC Trojans on Dad's Weekend.
Some of the other plays that may come up in that discussion would be Gerard Lawson's 102-yard kick return for a touchdown to assure the Beaver victory on the road against Colt Brennan and the Hawaii Warriors.
Another one could be Serna's game-winning field goal in the Civil War to put the Beavers on top of the hated Ducks by two points with less than a minute to play.
Or you could stay in the same game and fast-forward to a few seconds later when the Beavers' field goal blocking team knocked down Matt Evenson's game-winning attempt to guarantee the Beavers a Civil War victory and a trip to the Sun Bowl.
In a Sun Bowl during which the big plays did not stop, most notable were Stroughter's punt return that sailed from inside the Beavers' five-yard line all the way to mid-field to set up the Matt-Moore-to-Joe-Newton touchdown pass and the 2-point conversion by the great Yvenson Bernard to win the game.
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