Hawaii’s Nick Rolovich, San Jose State’s Brent Brennan share friendship, vision, goals

It is easy to see why tonight’s opposing football coaches — San Jose State’s Brent Brennan and Hawaii’s Nick Rolovich — are good pals, even though they have difficulty pinpointing the origin of their friendship.

Was it through Brennan’s cousin, former UH quarterback Colt Brennan? Was it because both were not retained by UH — Brennan as a graduate assistant when Fred vonAppen was fired in 1998; Rolovich as offensive coordinator when Greg McMackin was forced into retirement? Or was it with their shared experiences as young coaches working the same recruiting trails?

“Nick’s been a friend for a long time,” Brennan said. “Our families are friends.”

When Rolovich was coaching in Reno, Nev., he often would stop in to check on Brennan’s ailing father. Their families also have been on vacation together a couple of summers. Rolovich and Brennan’s wife once tricked Brennan into making food for what turned out to be his own surprise 40th birthday party.

“Nick’s one of the more enjoyable human beings on the planet,” Brennan said. “He has a great personality and he’s a lot of fun. That’s always fun to be around.”

Both coaches also have had to build programs with limited resources.

“We have similar programs as far as not complaining about what other people have that we don’t have,” Rolovich said. “We focus on what we can control, and the love for the kids we coach up, and helping them have great experiences at each of our schools.”

In 2017 and 2018 — Brennan’s first two seasons as head coach — the Spartans were 3-22. They played 42 freshmen those two years. Brennan praised the players for remaining hopeful through the growing pains.

“We attacked offseason a little different this year,” offensive lineman Troy Kowalski said. “We changed some things up because in the past, things we were doing weren’t helping us. We changed our culture a little bit.”

Leaders emerged and, in turn, they created an atmosphere of self-accountability. “If you don’t put in the work, you’re not going to have the results on game day,” Kowalski said.

This season, the Spartans took a money game against Arkansas, and cashed out with a 31-24 road victory over the SEC team. They also beat Army on the road and let a lead slip away in a 52-42 loss to Boise State.

“For our players, there was no satisfaction in being close, which was good,” Brennan said of the BSU defeat. “They weren’t like, ‘We almost did it.’ There wasn’t that feel. It was heartbreak. It was devastating in that locker room after the game. To me, that’s the sign we’re moving in the right direction, where there are no more moral victories, where we don’t feel good playing a good team close.”

Brennan acknowledged the sting remains from last year’s five-overtime loss to UH. “It was such an epic battle,” Brennan said.

Rolovich said of that game: “Think of the emotional differences that each went with to the locker room. That hurt (the Spartans). I’m sure that’s some of their motivation coming into this week. They remember that game.”