New Arizona football head coach Brent Brennan always looked after his family.
Just two years after Brennan’s final season as a wide receiver at UCLA, he pitched the idea of his younger brother, Brad, joining the Arizona Wildcats to his former offensive coordinator and “incredible teacher” Homer Smith; Smith was Arizona’s OC in 1996 and 1997.
“I reached out to him and said, ‘Hey, my younger brother is a pretty good player. Would you look at him?’ They looked at him and agreed to have him come when school started,” Brennan said.
In the spring of 1996, Brennan said he received a phone call while on vacation at Donner Lake in Northern California from the Arizona coaching staff led by UA coaching legend Dick Tomey.
“They said, ‘He can come to camp if he’s here tomorrow.’ Guess who was there tomorrow? Brad. He was excited about it. The rest is kind of storybook.”
Arizona’s Makoa Freitas (left), Brad Brennan (center) and Ortege Jenkins (right) and the rest of the team walk the grass at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, where they were preparing to play Penn State in the Pigskin Classic to open up the 1999 college football season.
The younger Brennan joined Arizona as a walk-on and carved out a five-year career with the Wildcats, recording 1,221 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. His most important score was a go-ahead touchdown pass from quarterback Keith Smith in the 1998 Holiday Bowl to beat Nebraska and end the season 12-1. One of Brennan’s memorable moments as a Wildcat was climbing the goalpost following Arizona’s win over Arizona State in ’98.
Arizona's Brad Brennan (13) runs for the touchdown alongside teammate Jeremy McDaniel (15) during first quarter of Arizona's Oct. 31, 1998 win over Oregon in Tucson.
“Brad was able to have this incredible journey on some pretty great teams,” Brent Brennan said. “Those years were some really fun years for our family to be a part of it.
“He’s excited,” the older brother said. “He’s over-the-top fired up.”
The Brennan bros. spent one season at Arizona together in 2000, when Brent was a graduate assistant during what would end up as Tomey’s final season in Tucson. Now Brad plans to visit his alma mater more often to visit older brother and new head coach of the Wildcats.
“It’s been surreal in a lot of ways,” Brad Brennan said. “I always think we knew Brent could be on this path to a big-time program like Arizona. But when it actually happens, it takes a little while to sink in. But man, we couldn’t be more excited for him and for Arizona. I believe they got the right guy. This going to be awesome, man.
“It makes me a little emotional when I think about it, because our path together with football in particular has been pretty wild.”
Brad Brennan joined “Spears and Ali” on ESPN Tucson Friday morning to provide insight on his brother, Tomey’s legacy, and Brent Brennan’s plan for the UA (the full interview can be heard on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).
Former UA football wide receiver’s UA football headshot, circa 1999.
For any Arizona fans who don’t know your brother, what are some unbendable core values that he stands for in leading a program?
A: “One is loyalty. This guy, he’s a loyal guy. You’ve seen that in his path. He’s stayed at these schools for a long time. He’s not a guy that says one thing and does another. I think the family aspect of him is almost to a fault. He brings everybody in. He doesn’t push anybody out. Sometimes that takes up a lot of his time, especially when you have your own family and you’re raising 110 kids and controlling a whole program and staff, that’s tricky. There’s only a limited number of hours in the day. He’s definitely this loyal family man that I think you’re going to see pretty quickly.
“The players have seen it in 48 hours already. There’s guys sitting in his office like, ‘Man, I’ve never been in the head coach’s office,’ and he’s bringing them all in like, ‘Let’s go, we gotta get this thing figured out. You gotta get to know me, I gotta get to know you.’ Those are some of his best values that he’s going to bring to this program.”
Arizona's Brad Brennan goes up and makes a catch against ASU's Jason Simmons during a 1997 matchup between the Wildcats and Sun Devils in Tempe.
Are there any Tomey-isms you still think about and what’s your favorite memory of the late Arizona coach?
A: “They come up all the team. ‘The team, the team, team.’
“He was such a special guy. Brent and him, because of their bond, it extended my relationship with coach Tomey. Everyone has a relationship with their coach. Sometimes that ends after college, and you don’t see the guy anymore.
“For me, it was very special because my brother coached with him longer (at San Jose State), so I got to see coach Tomey a lot. Brent and I were there in the weeks of the time we last saw coach Tomey, which gets me a little emotional. He was that special of a person.
“I was out visiting coach Tomey and a bunch of my old teammates who live in Hawaii, and coach Tomey was like, ‘Hey, Brad, you’re in town, would love to see you. Come by my house at 5 a.m. tomorrow.’ I’m like, ‘I’m about to go out and party with a bunch of my old teammates, there’s no way I’m going to make it at 5 a.m.’
Arizona's Brad Brennan (13) is caught from behind by Nebraska's Clint Finley (19) on a 63-yard reception from quarterback Keith Smith during the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30, 1998 in San Diego.
“But you can’t say no. He was like, ‘It’s going to be great. The Honolulu Marathon comes right in front of our house. We’re giving out oranges to all the runners and it’s going to be fantastic and it’s mile 19 of the race.’
“I’m scrambling at 5 a.m., and I’m already late. I get to coach Tomey’s (house), and he’s like, ‘Brad, you’re late!’ I’m like, ‘I know, I’m sorry’ right away.
“He’s like, ‘Well, get over here and start helping.’ He’s still coaching me, right? They’re giving out all these oranges and all these runners are flying by. We’re running out of oranges and I’m looking at coach Tomey like, ‘We got any more oranges?’ He’s like, ‘Just keep handing them out.’ I see a guy kind of struggling; it’s mile 19 of a 26-mile race. He’s stumbling over and he sees the oranges like an oasis in the middle of the desert.
“He makes it over to the table just as we give the last orange to the previous racer. The guy comes over and is super tired and looks at coach Tomey and says, ‘Hey, man, where are the oranges?’ Coach Tomey looks at him and goes, ‘You know what? If you ran a little faster, you would’ve gotten an orange.’ I was dying (laughing) and the guy looked at him like a crazy old man. It was so funny.”
How does your brother view this job and do you envision he’ll stay at Arizona long term?
A: “In the past, he’s stayed for a number of years at (Oregon State and San Jose State). This one is different. Because of his history there, because of the support and what’s been going on at Arizona. If they have success there, I don’t think he’s leaving. I don’t know where he would go.
“This is one of those jobs he’s always eyed as a goal to get to. He’s not chasing some job far away and he doesn’t want to bounce and move again and again and again. That’s not him. He believes in seeing it through and loyalty and I know this is the place he wants to be. I don’t see any inclination that he’s ever leaving there if things are successful for him, which I do believe they will be.“
Brent Brennan was officially announced as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday. Brennan flew to Tucson and walked into Arizona Stadium with the Pride of Arizona playing "Bear Down, Arizona" and mascots Wilbur and Wilma greeting the new UA coach. (Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star)
