SJSUSPARTANS.COM | FEBRUARY 17, 2021 | LAWRENCE FAN
Houston, Texas —– For leading San Jose State University to one of its most successful seasons in school history in the midst of a global pandemic and months of statewide wildfires, the Lombardi Foundation named Spartans’ head coach Brent Brennan, its 2020 College Football Coach of the Year.
One of four finalists, Brennan was named ahead of Indiana University’s Tom Allen, Iowa State University’s Matt Campbell, and Coastal Carolina University’s Jamey Chadwell.
“Anytime you get an award like this, it’s all about the people that lift you up… Without an incredible spouse, without kids that ‘get it,’ and are willing to go through the process of and the challenges of it, you have no chance as a head coach. I’m a really lucky guy that way to have the people working with me, that is the leadership at San Jose State,” Brennan said when he first was notified of the award named in honor of former Green Bay Packers and two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Vince Lombardi (1913-1970).
“To finish as conference champions and be awarded like this, it’s a reflection of the incredible work everyone else did. I stand out front and answer the hard questions. Everyone else has to do a lot of heavy lifting. I’m so incredibly honored,” said Brennan, who finished his fourth season as head coach. He led the Spartans to the Mountain West championship, a berth in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl, and a 24th ranking in the final Associated Press national poll.
FROM THE LOMBARDI FAMILY
“…Great leaders have humility and for you to speak about the family and the support staff, your coaches, your players, you’re being very humble. You did more than stand out in front and answer questions,” said John Lombardi, a grandson to the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach who led the Packers to the 1961, 1962 and 1965 National Football League championships before winning Super Bowls I and II in 1966 and 1967, respectively.
San Jose State’s .875 winning percentage from its 7-1 overall record in 2020 was third best in school history trailing the 1939 team’s perfect 13-0 mark and the 1940 squad that posted an 11-1 win-loss record. The Spartans won their first Mountain West championship since joining the conference in 2013 and first conference football title of any kind since sharing the 1991 Big West Conference crown.
“One of the real professional joys of my life is watching Coach Brennan become the coach he is. I’ve been around college football coaches my whole life and he is a really, really special man. He has this innate ability to relate and motivate young men to simply believe in the vision we all have for San José State,” said Marie Tuite, the San Jose State director of athletics.
“This is a tremendous honor for Coach Brennan, his staff, our football team, and our university. Coach Brennan identified creative and innovative ways for our team to be a team on and off the field and to persevere through setbacks and obstacles. The Lombardi Honors symbolize Coach Lombardi’s leadership and our head football coach promotes a leadership style in which everyone can succeed. This is a very special day for the Spartans as we celebrate a very special ‘Coach of the Year.'”
A FIRST-TIME HEAD COACH IS A NATIONAL AWARD WINNER
The 47-year-old Brennan is a 1995 UCLA graduate and is in his first head coaching position. He began his career as an assistant coach at Woodside (Calif.) High in 1996. During the 1998 through 2000 seasons, he was a graduate assistant at the Universities of Hawaii, Washington and Arizona. Brennan’s first full-time major college coaching opportunity was at Cal Poly during the 2001 through 2004 seasons.
In 2005, he returned to San Jose State as an assistant coach. As a youngster, he watched Spartan home football games from the end zone. His dad, Steve, was a football letter-winning end in the late 1960’s and his mom, Beth, was a song girl. For six seasons through 2010, he had a variety of assistant coaching assignments working for the late Dick Tomey (1938-2019) and Mike MacIntyre.
Brennan was a receivers coach at Oregon State during the 2011 through 2016 seasons before accepting the San Jose State head coaching position in December 2016.
“Coach Brennan could not be more deserving of this prestigious award, which he will be the first to say also reflects well on his stellar group of assistant coaches, staff members, and supporters,” said SJSU President Mary A. Papazian. “His attitude – always optimistic, always encouraging, always positive – spills over to his players and coaches, and it translates into a joyful program filled with enthusiasm and energy. Coach Brennan is clearly committed to developing the ‘whole’ student-athlete, one dedicated to both academic excellence as well as winning performances on the field. We are very proud of him and how far he has brought SJSU Football in such a short period of time.”
Prior to being named the Lombardi Foundation’s Coach of the Year, Brennan received the Mountain West’s Coach of the Year honors and was the American Football Coaches Association Region 5 Coach of the Year for 2020. He finished fifth in the Associated Press’ 2020 Coach of the Year balloting with three first-place votes.
Brennan is the first San Jose State football coach in school history to be named a national Coach of the Year and first from the Mountain West to receive a national coaching honor since TCU’s Gary Patterson was named the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in 2009. The time a San Jose State coach earned a national head coaching award was after Mark Gale led the Spartans to the 1992 NCAA Division I women’s golf championship and was named the GolfWeek National Coach of the Year.
About the Lombardi Foundation
The Lombardi Foundation supports amateur athletics and leadership to youth and adults worldwide. The net proceeds of the Foundation, after the expenses of maintaining the Foundation and the annual presentation of the Lombardi Awards and Honors, are reserved for charitable causes selected by our Board of Directors which include: Texas Children’s Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Harris Health.
Our Board, who serve pro bono, are guided by the Vince Lombardi family’s desire to continue the leadership and commitment of Vince Lombardi. His leadership principals, the seven pillars of life to college football and the commitment to community service are what the Lombardi Honors Awards represents.
The Lombardi Award and Lombardi Honors recognizes the nation’s outstanding college football player and leader. To make the final list of candidates the player must best exemplify the discipline, virtue and wisdom that defined Vincent Lombardi and his exceptional leadership.
The Lombardi Foundation, Inc., is a 501c (3) non-profit organization. Though its fundraising efforts, the Foundation contributes to cancer research, cures and treatment for children who cannot afford cancer care.