Rod Perry hired as secondary coach

Rod Perry was officially hired as Oregon State's next secondary coach, as announced by head coach Mike Riley on Tuesday.

Perry replaces former secondary coach Keith Heyward, who took the same position at the University of Washington about a month ago.

Perry, 58, served as a special defensive assistant on the Indianapolis Colts for the past five years, was a part of the 2006 Super Bowl-winning team, and coached some Pro Bowlers, such as 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Bob Sanders.

Most notably in Perry's coaching career, he was the cornerbacks coach for the San Diego Charger's during Mike Riley's three-year tenure as head coach of the Chargers. That connection is what brought Perry to Corvallis.

"I had the pleasure of working with Rod with the Chargers," Riley said. "Just with our opening here, I had some ideas in mind and had a lot of inquiring about the job. And then somewhere along — thank goodness — it clicked that I should give this gentleman a call."

Perry has been coaching in the NFL for the last 23 years. His last job in the college ranks was when he was coaching at Fresno State in 1988.

"I was really excited about the opportunity to come back to college football and work with men both on the field and off," Perry said.

OSU was looking at multiple different candidates for Heyward's vacancy as defensive backs coach, but the connection between Riley and Perry seemed to feel like the right fit.

"I was pleasantly surprised that, on our first conversation, he was interested," Riley said.

Perry also noted that when he first got the phone call from Riley, he wasn't really sure what it was going to be about. Returning to coaching college was something he hadn't considered before Riley called.

"Until (Riley) made the phone call, I didn't think that would ever happen," Perry said about the prospects of rejoining Riley's coaching staff.

Now that he's officially on board, Perry is looking forward to the potential of the secondary and of the team he's now a part of.

"There's some young talent (in the secondary), fast athletes that have done a great job of developing," Perry said.

The main difference for Perry between the pros and college is that the players he will now be coaching are still young and have a lot of growth happening in their lives. That's one of the biggest things he is looking forward to with his new position.

"I love the opportunity of working with young people and really watching young people grow," Perry said.

Warner Strausbaugh, sports writer

Twitter: @WStrausbaugh

sports@dailybarometer.com