San Jose State’s Brennan reportedly top candidate for Arizona head coach job

Brent Brennan, the coach who has overseen a revival of the San Jose State football program, is reportedly a prime candidate for the vacancy at Arizona.

While Brennan’s name has been mentioned frequently in connection to the job, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reported Monday night that he is the top candidate.

He would take over for Jedd Fisch, who fled Big 12-bound Arizona for Washington, which is entering the Big Ten next season following the collapse of the Pac-12. Brennan was a candidate for the Wildcats’ head coaching job three years ago when they hired Fisch.

Brennan, 50, has led the Spartans to bowl appearances in each of the last two seasons and three of the last four.

He has amassed a 34-48 record over seven seasons at San Jose State, the only place where he has been a head coach.

In 2023, the Spartans started 1-5 amid a difficult nonconference schedule and rallied to run off six straight wins to end the regular season. They finished in a tie for first place at 6-2 in conference play, but were left out of the conference title game when they came up third of three tied teams in computer rankings. They went on to lose the Hawaii Bowl 24-14 to Coastal Carolina.

The 2020 team finished the shortened regular season undefeated and won the Mountain West title before falling to Ball State in the Arizona Bowl in Tucson. San Jose State finished that season ranked No. 24 by the Associated Press, only the second time it has been ranked in a postseason AP poll.

Brennan’s ties to San Jose State made him a cultural fit after coaching the Spartans’ receivers from 2005-2010. Before that stint, the former UCLA wideout was a graduate assistant at Arizona in 2000. At both stops, he was an assistant under head coach Dick Tomey.