Arizona signs San Jose State's Brent Brennan as Wildcats' next football coach
Arizona's next head football coach is connected to the winningest coach in program history.
San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan signed to become Arizona's next head coach to succeed Jedd Fisch, who left for the same role at Washington following three seasons with the program. Brennan's contract, which was officially signed on Tuesday, is a five-year deal, pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents.
Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke posted a picture on X with Brennan and a signed contract on Tuesday in San Jose with the caption, "Got our guy!" Brennan is the 31st head coach in UA football history.
Several UA players, including All-Pac-12 linebacker Jacob Manu, posted "#StayingWithNansen" on X Monday night to campaign for former defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, who accepted a co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach role at Texas, as head coach.
Brennan was a finalist for the coaching vacancy at Arizona in 2020, before Fisch was hired to replace the fired Kevin Sumlin. The 50-year-old Brennan has a 34-48 record at San Jose State since he was hired in 2017. The Spartans had back-to-back seven-win seasons in ’22 and ’23.
In 2020, San Jose State won a Mountain West title for the first time since 1991; the Spartans started the ‘20 season 6-0, the best start since 1939. SJSU lost to Ball State in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson to end the '20 season. Current Arizona wide receivers coach Kevin Cummings coached under Brennan for four seasons in San Jose; he also played wide receiver for Brennan at Oregon State. Brennan also coached OSU star receivers James Rogers, Brandin Cooks and Markus Wheaton.
Cummings and Brennan's relationship could potentially keep Cummings — and star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and quarterback Noah Fifita — at Arizona. However, Cummings flew to Seattle along with several other UA staffers and was in attendance for Fisch's introductory news conference on Tuesday.
Before San Jose State, Brennan, a former UCLA wide receiver, coached at Hawaii, Washington and Arizona as a graduate assistant. The late Colt Brennan, a former Hawaii star quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist in 2007, is Brent Brennan's cousin.
At the UA in 2000, he was a GA under Dick Tomey, the all-time wins leader (95) in program history, before the former UA boss was fired. Brennan's brother, Brad Brennan, played wide receiver for the Wildcats from 1996-2000.
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Brennan followed former Arizona defensive coordinator Rich Ellerson to Cal Poly for four years and then reunited with Tomey at San Jose State in 2005 as a wide receivers coach.
Between their time together at Arizona and San Jose State, Brennan learned two Tomey-isms: “The harder it gets, the better we play” and “Football’s not complicated; people are.”
Brennan was among the key speakers at the late Tomey's funeral service at McKale Center in 2019.
“He is more than my football dad. He was just a really important man to me. I was incredibly honored to speak at his service," Brennan said leading up to the Arizona Bowl in 2020. "I wish there were more speakers; I felt like I could have sat there all day and listened to people tell stories about him and what they meant to him.
“I think about Coach every day. ... I talk about him all the time. He’s always been a real point of reference for me as I’m building our team and getting ready for games. I miss Dick Tomey dearly. What a great influence he had on my life."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona football hires Brent Brennan as coach to replace Jedd Fisch
