Torrian Gray (born March 18, 1974) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player who is currently the defensive backs coach at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. Also known by the nickname “Big Play Torrian Gray”.

College career

Gray was three times an all-

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

selection for the Virginia Tech Hokies. His college teams won two Big East championships and in 1995, upset the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

in the 1995 Sugar Bowl.

Professional career

Following his playing career at Tech, Gray was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

49th overall in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft. He played two seasons with the

backing up Orlando Thomas at free safety. He started five games as a rookie, including two playoff contests. He contributed as a starter in the nickel package and as a special teams player before retiring in the spring of 2000 due to a knee injury. The Vikings advanced to the playoffs in each of his three seasons.

Coaching career

Gray returned to Virginia Tech to coach defensive backs following the departure of Lorenzo Ward to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Gray coached several players who played in the NFL including: Aaron Rouse,

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician. He serves as the co-founder, lead vocalist, primary songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers, which he formed with Dave Ke ...

, Macho Harris, Kam Chancellor, Roc Carmichael, Jayron Hosley, Kyle Fuller, Antone Exum, Kyshoen Jarrett, Kendall Fuller, Chuck Clark, Terrell Edmunds, Greg Stroman, and Brandon Facyson. On February 4, 2017, Gray was named Defensive Backs coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins. On January 21, 2019, Gray chose to join the University of Florida football team as the Defensive Backs coach.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Torrian 1974 births Living people Chicago Bears coaches Florida Gators football coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Minnesota Vikings players South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football players Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches Washington Redskins coaches Players of American football from Lakeland, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida