Arizona has agreed to a five-year contract with San Jose State’s Brent Brennan to be the Wildcats’ next coach, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school was preparing an official announcement. ESPN was first to report Arizona had an agreement in place with Brennan.
Brennan, 50, replaces Jedd Fisch, who left for Washington on Sunday, and is the latest domino to fall since Nick Saban announced his retirement at Alabama.
Washington’s Kalen DeBoer was hired to replace Saban on Friday, Fisch replaced DeBoer two days later and Arizona hired Brennan two days after that.
Brennan, who has a strong Hawaii connection, was a candidate for the Arizona job when the school hired Fisch after the 2020 season.
He spent the past seven seasons at San Jose State, leading the Spartans to three bowl games in the last four seasons, including the 2020 Arizona Bowl in Tucson. He went 34-48 at San Jose State, a program that has struggled to sustain success during its time in the Mountain West Conference.
Brennan is the first coach to lead San Jose State to three bowl games. He led the Spartans to the most recent Hawaii Bowl, falling to Coastal Carolina 24-14. Brennan also had stints as an assistant coach at Oregon State and Cal Poly and was a graduate assistant at Arizona in 2000.
Brennan is the cousin of former UH quarterback Colt Brennan, probably the most famous Rainbow Warriors football player. He even wore a Colt Brennan No. 15 jersey to a Hawaii Bowl press conference.
He started his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant with UH. He also coached under former UH head coach Dick Tomey at San Jose State before moving to Oregon State and then returning as the head coach for the Spartans. This past season, Brennan had five Hawaii players on his roster, including former UH quarterback and Saint Louis star Chevan Cordeiro.
