Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – Football Beat Reporter
Welcome to “Coach’s Corner,” a safe space for three ridiculous observations made by beat reporter Matt Weiner from SJSU head coach Brent Brennan’s weekly press conference.
Edible Arrangements
Third-year tight end Dominick Mazotti has become one of Chevan Cordeiro’s favorite targets as of late.
He’s caught 14 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns in his last three games, after registering two catches for 15 yards in his first three.
Brent Brennan gave Mazotti some much-deserved flowers, but it was more than just a bundle of tulips and roses bought you can buy on the side of the road.
This should be an Everest-sized gift basket from Edible Arrangements. Filled with zebra-striped chocolate strawberries, garnished with sunflowers and decked with dark chocolate footballs piped with white chocolate laces.
His presence can create a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ scenario for opposing secondaries.
The ‘damned if you do’ scenario is sending multiple guys to cover Elijah Cooks and Justin Lockhart, leaving Mazotti with space to roam free. The ‘damned if you don’t’ is covering Mazotti, giving Cooks one-on-one looks.
San Jose State family business
It’s difficult to know when a college football head coach is being truthful when he labels his program a ‘family’. Coaches will say it year in and year out, but like clockwork that same ‘family’ will erode into a pile of bitter endings and transfer portal exits.
Which could be why Brennan had this to say when asked what he’s most proud of this season:
For the full quote:
“It’s just healthy and being around them is so fun and that’s the thing I feel best about. I think lots of programs say they have a family and I think lots of times it’s BS. I think this here is definitely that. As long as we will play for each other, if we will prepare for each other, practice for each other, and play for each other, we are going to like how this feels.”
Nick Nash making the move from quarterback to wide receiver is a practice of what Brennan preached.
Nash, who’s in his fourth year at SJSU, played 24 games as quarterback from 2019-21, and went 3-2 as the team’s main signal caller in 2021.
With Cordeiro transferring over and playing lights out, he found himself out of a job in 2022. Instead of going scorched earth on the program and entering the transfer portal mid-season, he made a switch to wide receiver and helped out on special teams.
His willingness to do some ‘grunt work’ epitomizes how guys in the program are playing for something bigger than themselves. Something along the lines of a family.
Settling in
Brennan felt that scheme wasn’t the reason why SJSU scored seven points in the first half against Nevada, their lowest first half total all season.
“There wasn’t just the game … Being on the field with Camdan’s family and forming the 6 at the kick off.”
Later adding, “There wasn’t just the game. That was an incredibly emotional moment with all of it. Being on the field with Camdan’s family and forming the 6 at the kick off.”
The four clean, calculated touchdown drives in the second half were a byproduct of, “Getting our feet underneath us and playing clean football.”
Trying to balance grief and the intensity of football is an unimaginably difficult juggling act, but the Spartans handled it flawlessly.
Brent Brennan and the Spartans look to clinch bowl eligibility this week with a win over Colorado State and catch up on SJSU’s recent win over Nevada by reading this week’s Water Cooler Talk.