By Austin Turner — Columnist
Know when to hold them and know when to fold them. Well, Marie Tuite pushed all of her chips to the center of the table.
San Jose State’s athletic director made the biggest gamble of her career Friday.
Along with university president Mary Papazian, Tuite announced SJSU has signed head football coach Brent Brennan to a three-year extension, keeping the coach signed through the 2024 season. He will reportedly earn $850,000 per year over the deal.
Brennan is coming off his most successful campaign as a head coach. The Spartans finished 5-7 with monumental wins against Arkansas and Fresno State. The five win season may seem modest, but Brennan was just 3-22 as head coach prior to this season.
Giving a 8-29 coach a three-year extension may seem like a risky proposition. That’s because it is. But let’s take a second to break this decision down by pros and cons, and see if Tuite hit the jackpot or struck out.
Pro — Consistency
In Friday’s press conference, Papazian and Tuite stressed the importance of stability to a football program.
They have a point. It’s impossible to build a successful program with consistent turnover at head coach.
Look at some of the top teams in college football. Nick Saban has been at Alabama for 13 years. Dabo Swinney is finishing his 10th year at Clemson. Boise State, cream of the crop in the Mountain West, has had three coaches since 2001.
When players are subjected to rapid changes to the schematics, logistics and mission statement for every regime, a team is going to have massive issues.
Former players talk about it all the time. A coaching staff needs time to mold the program to its liking. Going into year four, Brennan will have his program established. All of his players are handpicked. Most will have only experienced Brennan’s style of running a program. The importance of that cannot be understated.
Pro — Recruiting
If there’s one thing coach Brennan and his staff has excelled at, it’s recruiting.
The staff has done an excellent job at stealing players from other programs in the MW. This extension is going to be a massive selling point to recruits that are considering other schools in the conference.
Think about it. At least four MW teams will play the 2020 season with a new head coach. Recruits pay attention to that. Do they want to go to a program going through a rebuild, or a team that can win now?
If Brennan had not been extended, going to SJSU could’ve been a risky proposition for a potential recruit. With just two seasons left on his deal, there’s little job security there for Brennan. So if the recruit commits to SJSU, they risk the chance of needing to learn a whole new system under a whole new staff after just one or two seasons.
Having a coach with job security matters to recruits.
Pro — Poach Insurance
Any coach that brings SJSU to title-contention is likely to receive attention from bigger programs. It’s simply part of the Group of 5 experience. Coaches that succeed there are given opportunities more money and fame at Power 5 institutions.
After experiencing his first taste of success at SJSU, Brennan’s résumé for a bigger job started to be written. If the Spartans had an even bigger year in 2020 and went on to, say, the MW Championship Game, Brennan’s name would certainly be inserted into some big-name coaching vacancies.
This extension provides some insurance in the case that Brennan moves on to greener pastures. There’s likely some language in the new contract that protects the university in the case of his departure. Brennan will reportedly earn $850,000 per year now, so the buyout of his contract will probably cover at least most of that figure.
Brennan has said he intends to stay at SJSU for the long haul, but a Power 5 job would be tough to turn down. Spartan fans, take some solace in knowing that the school is most likely prepared for whenever that time comes.
Con — Risk-factor
This extension is a gigantic risk for SJSU Athletics. Tuite is gambling on Brennan being “the guy” for years to come.
It seems like Brennan is that guy. His players love him. He’s a great recruiter. He’s the epitome of that cliche, “great coach, better guy.” But committing to him for five more years might be jumping the gun just a tad.
He’s 8-29 as head coach. That’s nearly 10 losses a season. Even looking at this season, which deserves lots of praise, the Spartans only went 5-7. The defense was inconsistent and the run-game was non-existent.
So, for argument’s sake, let’s play a hypothetical. In 2020, the Spartans plummet back down to 2-10. Is Brennan still the guy? If it’s clear he’s not, well SJSU is just S.O.L. The university wouldn’t be able to afford that buyout.
With the extension, Brennan has complete job security. While that is a great thing as of right now, in a year it could be something that puts SJSU football back in the meat grinder for another decade.
Con — The unknown
There’s a bit of an elephant in the room when it comes to SJSU football’s 5-7 season.
This team is losing a lot of cornerstone players. Let’s run through a list of the key players departing the program:
- Josh Love, quarterback
- DeJon Packer, running back
- Troy Kowalski, offensive line
- Quinn Oseland, offensive line
- Bailey Gaither, wide receiver
- Ethan Aguayo, linebacker
- Jesse Osuna, linebacker
- Sailosi Latu, defensive line
- Zamore Zigler, cornerback
- Brandon Ezell, cornerback
That is quite the list. Those players all played huge roles for the Spartans in 2019. Those are a lot of shoes to fill.
So was this season a fluke? No. The program showed massive strides and Brennan himself was a much better in-game coach.
But that list is alarming. It might have been a better move to wait and see what Brennan does with his new-look squad in 2020 before committing long-term.
Overall Impressions
Coach Brennan seems like the guy that could lead SJSU to MW contention. But let’s call this deal for what it is: a huge, gigantic, enormous gamble.
This contract could end one of two ways. Coach Brennan is looked back upon as the program’s savior, or a colossal mistake. Which one will it be? Well, he certainly looks promising so far, so be optimistic.
If the university and athletic department have this much faith in him, then he’s worth believing in.
Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurner_