Brennan nabs national coach of year honor
Head coach Brent Brennan, who led San Jose State to a 71 record and the Mountain West Conference title through a nomadic 2020 season, on Wednesday was honored by the Lombardi Foundation with its national Coach of the Year award.
Before 2020, San Jose State had not put together a winning season since 2012 and had not won an outright conference title since taking the Big West in 1990. In Brennan’s first two seasons (201718) leading the program, the Spartans went a combined 322.
During a Zoom news conference Wednesday, Brennan was asked if he could have foreseen winning a national Coach of the Year award while going through that 322 stretch.
“Not Coach of the Year, but I expected us to win,” Brennan said. “I would really say, what choice do you have? ... When you’re in that situation, there’s only one choice, and that’s to believe that you can ... and with the incredible collaboration and effort by so many people involved, we found a way to win the conference championship.”
Brennan helped the Spartans navigate a pandemicaltered season in which they spent 12 days training at Humboldt State in October and
then the final 21⁄2 weeks of the regular season in Hawaii and the Las Vegas area. Those trips were in response to Santa Clara County’s restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Led by quarterback Nick Starkel, a grad transfer from Arkansas, and defensive lineman Cade Hall, the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, the Spartans went 70 in the regular
season. All of their wins came by double digits.
Brennan termed winning the Lombardi Foundation’s award “a special moment” for him personally but more important for the program.
“This is so cool for our team and what this team did,” Brennan said.
In the days after San Jose State beat Boise State 3420 for the MWC title Dec. 19, Brennan acknowledged he’d had interest in the Arizona headcoaching job that went to Jedd Fisch. Brennan then announced he was close to a contract extension with San Jose State. That contract has not been finalized.
Some of the luster of the Spartans’ season was diminished when they lost 3413 to Ball State in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 31. Six players and the offensive and defensive coordinators missed the game, most because of a virus outbreak.
That came after Santa Clara County officials were upset with the Spartans for not quarantining for the mandatory 10 days after they returned from Las Vegas before heading to Tucson.
Indiana’s Tom Allen, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell were the other finalists for the Lombardi Foundation’s award.