Arizona head coach Brent Brennan was named in the "Big school, limited production " category by Adam Rittenberg of ESPN in his "Ranking all college football head coaches as players." Brennan played at UCLA in 1993 and 1994.
Brennan's brother Brad had 66 receptions for 1,221 yards and 11 touchdowns for Arizona from 1996 through 2000. Brennan never made the impact as a college football player that his brother did. The coaching career for Brennan began as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1998.
Brennan used his experience as a WR at UCLA to spend the majority of his career coaching the position as an assistant. The first full-time job for Brennan as an assistant coach was at Cal Poly from 2001 through 2004 as the recruiting coordinator and WR coach under former Arizona defensive coordinator Rich Ellenson.
Brennan continued his Arizona connections during his career as an assistant coach under Dick Tomey at San Jose State from 2005 through 2010. Brennan left for Oregon State beginning in 2011, where he remained on staff through the 2017 season. San Jose State hired Brennan as head coach, where he stayed through 2023.
"Brent Brennan, Arizona Wildcats: He spent five seasons at UCLA as a wide receiver, earning a letter in 1993, as the Bruins won the Pac-10 championship and reached the Rose Bowl. Brennan had one reception for 7 yards in 1994."Adam Rittenberg, ESPN
UCLA finished 8-4 overall and 6-2 in 1993 and 5-6 in 1994 in the two seasons Brennan was on the roster. Brennan played at UCLA under College Football Hall of Fame coach Terry Donahue. Brennan missed coaching in the Pac-12 by one season but learned from former Pac-12 COYs Donahue and Tomey.
Brennan has coached 19 NFL players during his coaching career. Those players include the four players from Arizona selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Thirteen WRs coached by Brennan throughout his career as an assistant and head coach have played in the NFL.
The experience of playing at UCLA played a part in leading Brennan to becoming an assistant at Oregon State while they were still a Power Five conference and to being hired at Arizona. Brennan should play a part in the development of the Arizona WRs and the Wildcats adjust to their first season without star Tetairoa McMillan.