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.
Rolling into bowl season
When coaches walk into a locker room after a win it’s a thing of beauty. They always appear disgruntled and reluctant to smile. But for those 10-15 seconds they are filled with unrestrainable joy.
Brennan was no different than Roy Williams, only he was jumping up and down like a child before rolling a strike after beating Colorado State 28-16 to clinch bowl eligibility.
“I think Ben Thienes [director of football operations] is responsible for the bowling pins being there,” said Brennan. “Had I seen them pregame I would’ve felt like it was the jinx of all time, I would’ve dog cussed him for it.”
Brennan’s emotions in that moment were an accumulation of the triumphs and tribulations its taken to get there.
“They’ve worked so hard. This has not been a six-month thing, this has been a six-year thing.”
A guaranteed extended amount of time with the Spartan brotherhood added to his unbridled emotions.
“You get to keep playing and this team has bought another few weeks together,” said Brennan. “That’s special.”
Losing the spirit of the BBQ
Brennan’s pogo stick-like bouncing and jubilation in the video is also tied to how much time he’s put into the program. Be it coaching, recruiting, dealing with the media, glad-handing donors, and other countless obligations.
But still, there has to be something he does that has nothing to do with football … right?
He instantly cracked a smile and said “no” when I asked him that question.
“Lots of the old-timers I used to work for in the past refer to it as ‘being in the submarine,’” said Brennan. “In August you get into the submarine and you don’t get out until December or January and that’s kind’ve what it is.”
Even barbecuing has been cut out of Brennan’s life.
“It’s funny my son’s older now, but when we first got here, like my second year as a head coach, my son at the time was like, I think nine or ten and he told my wife that I had lost the spirit of barbecue.”
Prepping for another dogfight
Something that’s been a rarity for Brent Brennan and the Spartans is playing meaningful football in November.
But the same can’t be said for their opponent this week– San Diego State.
“They are always good, they always have great players that play super hard,” said Brennan.
San Diego State has been a staple of Mountain West contenders and are coming off a loss in the conference title game.
The Aztecs have buckled their fans on an up and down roller coaster of a season. They are 5-4, but haven’t lost in consecutive weeks and their longest win streak was two games.
Their defense has been a Mountain West-worst against the pass, allowing 239.8 yards per game, but are fourth-best in rushing yards per game, 127.8.
Brennan is currently 4-1 in his career against SDSU, the only loss coming last year in a grimy, defense-oriented 19-13 double-OT win .
“Every year is an absolute dogfight with these guys,” said Brennan.
Brent Brennan and the Spartans look to take one step closer to clinching the West division this week at Snapdragon Stadium and catch up on SJSU’s recent win over Colorado State by reading this week’s Water Cooler Talk.