Brent Brennan is not on the hot seat, but the seat warmers have definitely been turned on.
After San José State squandered a 20-point road lead to Boise State on Saturday night, and a mob of Spartan fans have called for Brennan’s head all over the team’s social media pages.
“Absolutely pathetic,” said SJSU alumnus Jack Bowers on X Saturday. “The gimmick '#ClimbTheMountain' slogan from 3 years ago is really becoming a ridiculous irony as this team is only sliding downward. Our coach got his big payday after 7-0, then let this thing go back to the bad old days.”
“Coaching change is needed. This is Fitz Hill territory this team is wading into now,” said X user @flux_capacitors.
While criticism of Brennan for how this season has played out is valid, let’s pump the brakes on the idea that he should be fired. There are many factors into why firing the second-highest paid coach in the Mountain West would be a bad idea.
Money
Probably the biggest reason why firing Brennan wouldn’t be a good idea is his school buyout price.
Brennan has two years left on his contract that pays him just over $1 million a year until 2025. If SJSU were to fire Brennan before the contract expires, the school would have to pay him a $4 million buyout fee upfront.
For a program that is already struggling with maintaining its own practice field, coughing up $4 million would be a hard sell to donors who just helped pay for a new $70 million athletic facility — one Brennan has been pushing for since he arrived on campus in 2017.
If the school is willing to part ways with $4 million, that money should be spent elsewhere to fund other things that would make the program better. A better practice field, NIL opportunities and more money to fund recruiting trips would be other places SJSU can spend that money, rather than firing its head coach.
Well liked figure
Aside from the financial ramifications of firing Brennan, cutting ties with him would cause ripple effects around the team.
Even with a 1-5 record this season, there is no inclination that Brennan has lost the locker room. During this losing streak, players have said that Brennan has been the reason the team hasn’t lost faith in returning to the postseason.
And if Brennan were to be let go, it isn’t inconceivable that he could get a job elsewhere pretty quickly. After the Spartans won the Mountain West title in 2020, Brennan received a job offer from the University of Arizona. Last season, Brennan was also rumored to have been in the mix to become Stanford’s next head coach.
If Brennan were to be fired and get a job elsewhere, there’s good reason to believe that he can take a few of the players and coaches with him, gutting the program even further.
Who replaces Brennan?
One of the biggest issues in making a sweeping change at head coach is who would the Spartans hire if they were to cut ties with Brennan?
Cutting ties with him would almost certainly mean that the program would have to chase someone who is cheaper. After buying out Brennan, SJSU’s athletic department would need to find the money to bring in a coach at a similar or slightly lower cost than Brennan.
But what has made SJSU struggle with stability in the past is going the cheap route with coaching.
In 2000, SJSU fired head coach Dave Baldwin after a contract dispute despite Baldwin leading SJSU to its first winning season since 1992.
Baldwin’s agent told the Spartan Daily SJSU was only willing to give Baldwin a three-year extension at $160,000 per year — the lowest contract of a head football coach in the Western Athletic Conference at the time.
With the financial troubles SJSU’s athletic department has historically had, putting itself in a position where the football program could be set back financially is not a good move.
Are there other high-level coordinators or head coaches that could be available this offseason?
Sure, there always are.
But at what cost and is it worth starting the program over entirely? I say no.
