San Jose State head football coach Brent Brennan has many ties to Hawaii, starting with his tenure with a graduate assistant at UH in 1998.
Brennan has also been back many times as a coach, dating back to his time as an assistant coach on SJSU’s staff in 2005. He was also Oregon State’s receivers coach from 2011 to 2016, which included three trips to the islands as an opposing coach.
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Of all of Brennan’s trips to Hawaii, Saturday’s game against UH at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex will have been his first without his cousin, legendary quarterback Colt Brennan, to catch up with. It has certainly added an emotional layer to the trip.
“This game will be an emotional deal for me because that’s still pretty fresh for all us,” said Brent Brennan. “I think it speaks to how the University of Hawaii and the state of Hawaii embraced Colt and how they felt about him and how in what he gave them in the magical run of winning football and packed stadium, Aloha Stadium, and you look at those videos that they’ve been kind of on repeat for the last few months, just to see Aloha Stadium full and just people going wild and just what that was for both Colt and UH and the state of Hawaii.
“It’s been really special, I think it’s an incredible way that they’ve honored him and I think it’s a cool thing because the outpouring of love and how much they respected him is also you could say the flip side of that is that’s how he felt about Hawaii.”
Kickoff between the Rainbow Warriors and Spartans is set for 6:30 p.m. Fans will not be allowed to attend. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.