Brent Brennan won four games and lost three versus Hawaii as the head coach at San Jose State from 2017 through 2023. Brennan led San Jose State to wins in both games against Hawaii and current head coach Timmy Chang. Arizona hosts Hawaii in the 2025 season opener on Saturday.
San Jose State lost four consecutive games to Hawaii between 2016 and 2019. Brennan was the head coach for the last three of those games. San Jose State won 27-14 at home in 2022 and 35-0 at Hawaii during Brennan's last season in the two games he coached against Chang.
Chang revitalized the run-and-shoot at Hawaii. San Jose State played old-school football in the 27-14 win over Hawaii in 2022. The Spartans had the ball for 32:16, ran for 191 yards, held Hawaii to 43 rushing yards, were six of 12 on third downs and held the Rainbows to five of 17 on third down.
San Jose State had a balanced offense with 468 total yards while holding Hawaii to 198 in the 35-0 2023 win in Brennan's final season. The Spartans had 251 yards passing and 217 rushing in the win. San Jose State held Hawaii to 52 yards rushing and 146 yards passing in the convincing win.
Brent Brennan has known Hawaii coach Timmy Chang since he (Chang) was a junior in high school.
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) August 25, 2025
Brennan also coached against Hawaii twice as an assistant at Oregon State and six times as a San Jose State assistant. Chang was an assistant coach at Nevada from 2017 through 2021 before returning to Hawaii. Nevada had four wins and one loss against San Jose State when Chang was on their staff.
Chang was the wide receivers coach in 2017 and 2021 at Nevada and the tight ends coach for the Wolfpack in the three seasons in between. Nevada averaged 33.6 points per game in the five games against Brennan and San Jose State when Chang was on their staff.
Hawaii averaged 19.8 PPG in 2022, 21.4 in 2023 and 22.3 in 2024 in their three seasons with Chang as the head coach. Hawaii beat Stanford 23-20 in their 2025 season opener in week zero. Brennan and Chang is one of many connections between the Arizona and Hawaii football programs.