Multiple computer screens. Rosters that demand constant updating. Thick binders filled with scouting reports.
These are the tools of the trade for Jeremy Gray, the man in charge of monitoring and managing the NCAA transfer portal for Arizona football.
Gray is like the Borg Queen in “Star Trek: First Contact” — he seeks to bring order to chaos.
Thousands of players have put their names in the portal since its inception in October 2018. It’s Gray’s job to identify the handful who fit the parameters to become Wildcats.
“Is this kid a good fit for our program? That’s the biggest thing that Coach (Jedd) Fisch preaches,” Gray said. “Make sure that we’re bringing the right people into our building.”
As part of an expanded personnel department, Fisch hired Gray as Arizona’s coordinator of college scouting. His duties are two-fold: stay on top of the portal and prepare reports on the Wildcats’ opponents.
The portal quickly has become an integral aspect of roster building. It isn’t unusual for teams to lose a dozen players and add just as many in a given offseason.
Arizona has seven portal additions in this recruiting cycle, all of whom already have enrolled ahead of National Signing Day on Wednesday. Gray’s imprint is all over that haul, which 247Sports.com ranks 16th in the nation. But as he emphasized, he’s just one of many.
“It’s definitely a collaborative process,” Gray said. “There’s no egos. There’s no power trip here.”
Gray and Fisch worked together at UCLA in 2017. Fisch was the Bruins’ offensive coordinator and, for two games, interim head coach; Gray was a graduate assistant helping tutor the wide receivers.
That assignment fell between two stints in the player-personnel office of the Minnesota Vikings, where Gray’s father, Jerry, served as defensive backs coach. The elder Gray has coached in the NFL for over 20 years and is currently the Green Bay Packers’ defensive backs coach and defensive passing-game coordinator.
Jeremy Gray played defensive back at SMU before becoming a grad assistant at his alma mater. Gray, 30, would like to become an NFL general manager one day. For now, he’s focused on helping a rebuilding program find its way amid the rapidly changing world of college football.
Gray spoke to the Star about his job and his journey, including the lessons learned from his father and one of their former bosses. The conversation has been lightly edited.
What appealed to you the most about this job?
A: “The biggest thing was working for Coach Fisch, knowing what he’s gonna bring to the program. It was about a month, the timeframe where he was interim head coach. We were preparing things for him during our last home game at UCLA and our bowl game. Knowing what Coach Fisch could do with an entire department behind him, an entire organization behind him, an entire program ... I just knew that this was the right move for me. And I knew that everybody else (he hired) were gonna be A+ people.”
The portal seems chaotic. Players are entering and exiting every day. How do you stay on top of it all?
A: “You’re correct. It is pretty chaotic. So we try to establish guidelines – parameters that we deem best fit for us. The portal is just names, schools, positions. So we try to go through (it and) see which players fit for us character-wise.
“They have to be athletic, an upgrade for our roster, someone that we deem can help us on Saturdays. From there the entire recruitment process ensues. If we like a kid, we’ll bring him on a visit, give him the red-carpet treatment and then hopefully put pen to paper.”
How does the process compare to recruiting a high school prospect?
A: “The recruitment process is like high school (except) that two-year process is crammed into maybe a week. Speed is definitely your ally. Unlike high school, where it’s more of a long, drawn-out process, building deep relationships, there is definitely a time component. Once a (quality player) hits the portal, every team’s pounding on him, every team’s reaching out trying to get in contact with him to get him on campus as soon as possible.”
Let’s go through a specific case. How did you land Jayden de Laura?
A: “We played Jayden up in Pullman this past season. His name pops in. ‘Hey, Coach Fisch, Jayden de Laura just went in the portal, Washington State quarterback.’ I didn’t need to put (in) a thorough report because I had actually already written him up in season. So it’s like, ‘Hey, we already know who this kid is, we just played him two months ago. This is a guy that could probably help us out.’ And then from there, it’s just full go. It’s full-steam ahead.”
UA coach Jedd Fisch brought an NFL-style organizational chart to Tucson, which made Jeremy Gray’s adjustment from the Minnesota Vikings to college football easier.
How did your time with the Vikings prepare you for this job?
A: “I think it helped tremendously. The fact that Coach Fisch is running pretty much an NFL-style program, it’s basically copy-and-paste for me. So it hasn’t really been a lot of relearning.
“The biggest thing was getting acquainted with the transfer portal, getting acquainted with the conference again. But as far as the processes, daily tasks, job responsibilities, it’s been very similar.”
Your Twitter handle is @The2ndCoachGray. How would you summarize the influence that your dad has had on you?
A: “Growing up, I was always Coach Gray’s son. That’s where the Twitter handle comes from. As far as his inspiration, probably the biggest role model for me professionally and personally. I can go on and on.”
What are some lessons or advice from your dad that stand out?
A: “The biggest thing is just to be myself. So it’s kind of an oxymoron – growing up under his shadow, he also wanted me to always go and do my own thing.
“Obviously I loved football and it was something I wanted to do. He wanted to make sure that it was actually my own doing, and he still preaches that today. So he wants to make sure that I’m always just being myself, chasing my own dreams and don’t follow in his footsteps.
“And then the second thing is just be authentic. It’s a very relational-based business. Making sure that you’re always genuine with people, trustworthy, honest and just be an overall good person.”
Who are some of the coaches you’ve met along the way from spending time on the job with your dad?
A: “Probably the most influential time of my career was when I was in high school living in Ashburn, Virginia. My dad’s working with Washington at the time. And the head coach was Joe Gibbs. Just seeing that Hall of Fame-caliber coach come back a second time, how he was so family-oriented, personable, no ego, humble. At the same time, three Super Bowl rings.”
Heading into National Signing Day, Rivals.com has your high school class in the top 20 nationally and No. 1 in the Pac-12. How did Coach Fisch and his staff pull that off after a 1-11 season?
A: “I think it’s just the daily small wins accumulating. This is just the end result. It’s our day-to-day tasks that we do. Just the effort and the energy and the attitude behind recruiting. It’s how we attack and how we approach it. Good things are gonna happen.”
