HONOLULU — When it comes to EasyPost Hawaii Bowl viral moments, Brent Brennan is downright contagious.
The San Jose State football coach showed up to Tuesday’s bowl week introductory press conference sporting not yellow-and-blue Spartans colors, but a green-and-black, No. 15 retro jersey of the late Hawaii football legend Colt Brennan.
With Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head as the backdrop on a drizzly yet sunny morning at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel courtyard, Brennan was happy to field questions about his wardrobe choice. He rattled off a litany of ties between his program, the University of Hawaii and the Islands at large: Five local players on his roster, including the ex-UH quarterback Chevan Cordeiro; Coach Dick Tomey, for whom the teams’ perpetual trophy competition is named; SJSU defensive line coach Joe Seumalo, a former UH player; and, of course, his own blood bond with his cousin Colt, who died in 2021 at age 37.
Brennan told Spectrum News that he wasn’t sure at what point he’d don the special jersey he brought from the Bay Area – perhaps at a team practice – but when he saw how close Tuesday’s presser would be to Duke’s Waikiki, where Brennan’s celebration of life was held in 2021, it felt right.
“I’m representing my cousin Colt, just keeping his memory alive, how magical he was to this place and how magical this place was to him,” Brennan said. “I like to joke with Chevan that Chevan’s my favorite quarterback ever from Hawaii. But my favorite Hawaii quarterback is Colt Brennan.”
The image quickly took off on social media, in similar fashion to Brennan’s Kool-Aid Man-like, side-door entrance to SJSU’s team meeting on Nov. 30, decked out in only in board shorts and a surfboard to break the news to his players of their participation in the Dec. 23 Hawaii Bowl against Coastal Carolina.
CCU of the Sun Belt Conference came a long way from Myrtle Beach, S.C., where its direct flight was delayed for fueling and other issues before takeoff; it contributed to 13 total hours spent on the plane for the Chanticleers. Sun Belt career receiving yardage record-holder Sam Pinckney was accompanied by his wife and young daughter, the latter of whom kept him up the whole time, causing him to knock out immediately upon arrival.
That made Tuesday morning’s Waikiki sunrise that much better, Pinckney said with a smile.
Both teams are Hawaii Bowl first-timers, but the Spartans of the Mountain West, who made their second trip here in less than two months, are expected to be the hometown favorite at UH’s 15,000-seat Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. CCU does not have any direct local ties, with the possible exception of coach Tim Beck’s tradition of watching the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve over the last two decades.
“If there are any (players) that are interested, let me know, I’d love to come out here and recruit,” said the first-year Chants coach.
SJSU (7-5) has won six straight and missed out on the MWC title game because of a computer calculation, while CCU (7-5) is grappling with the loss of its top two quarterbacks, three-time Sun Belt Player of the Year Grayson McCall, and his backup, Jarrett Guest. McCall has committed to NC State and Guest is also in the NCAA transfer portal, leaving redshirt freshman Ethan Vasko as the starter.
Beck said his team has gotten accustomed to rallying around whoever’s been at signal-caller through several injuries at the position, and that CCU’s defense has raised its play when necessary.
“Each player’s journey is their journey, it’s not mine,” Beck said to a question about the increasingly frequent bowl game opt-outs by college football players. “It’s hard to understand sometimes why they do what they do, but it’s their life and their choice. Our job is to put the best 11 out on the field, coach them as hard as we can, prepare them as well as we can, have fun with the guys that are here and not worry about the guys that aren’t.”
Cordeiro’s enthusiasm for his six-year-career capstone has not waned since the game’s announcement, and his discovery that a Spartans practice would be held at his alma mater Saint Louis did nothing to dampen matters. (Coastal Carolina practiced at Farrington on Tuesday.)
He said he and his local teammates – kicker Kyler Halvorsen, defensive lineman Quincy Likio, offensive lineman Laakea Kapoi, tight end Kamaehu Kopa-Kaawalauole – will spend the lead-up to the game with the team in Waikiki. Family time will come later.
“I’m just going to try to take in the moment to spend time with the boys for (our) last week together. Show them around,” Cordeiro, an All-MWC first-teamer at his position, told Spectrum News. “Walk down the Waikiki Strip. That’s really all I’m focused on, that and the game. Knowing it’s my last game didn’t really sink in yet, emotions didn’t really come yet, but I know it will.”
He expects a similar crowd of supporters from SJSU’s 35-0 win over UH on Oct. 28, plus several old Rainbow Warriors teammates with whom he’s kept close ties.
“I’m still boys with them and we created a bond that will last forever,” Cordeiro said. “I still talk to them. I know they’re going to come and support.”
SJSU’s fall graduation ceremony, in which Cordeiro would’ve taken part, was held on Tuesday. But SJSU announced it will hold a special graduation ceremony for 13 players at the Moana Surfrider on Wednesday night.
The jam-packed Wednesday also features a luau for both teams, a Pearl Harbor visit for CCU, and, to top it off, it’s signing day for recruits.
Kickoff for Saturday’s ESPN-televised game, moved up a day from its traditional Christmas Eve slot, is set for 5:30 p.m. Hawaii time.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.