Raised in
Phillipsburg, New Jersey, Brennan graduated as the all-time leading scorer at
Phillipsburg Catholic High School. Brennan graduated from the
University of Georgia in 1971, where, as a senior, he received the men's basketball team leadership award. He began his coaching after graduating in the fall of 1971 as a graduate assistant at Georgia under
Ken Rosemond. Sandwiched around a year as head basketball and baseball coach at Division III
Fairleigh Dickinson University in
Madison, New Jersey, Brennan was an assistant under college basketball coaches
Rollie Massimino at
Villanova,
Bill Raftery at
Seton Hall and
Bruce Parkhill at
William & Mary. In 1982, he was named head coach at
Yale where he crafted a four-year record of 46–58, including back-to-back seasons of 14–12 and 13–13. At Yale, he coached players such as
Earl "Butch" Graves and NBA veteran
Chris Dudley. In 19 years at Vermont, Brennan led the Catamounts to four 20+ win seasons, three America East championships and UVM's first three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the school's first NCAA Tournament win over Big East champion Syracuse in 2005. Brennan is one of two coaches in America East history to lead his team to three consecutive conference titles. Brennan's last four Vermont teams brought unprecedented positive national publicity to the men's basketball program and to the school. During his last season, Vermont became the first and only America East team to sell out every one of its home games at Patrick Gymnasium. During the second half of the 2004–05 season the Catamounts were the subject of five parts of ESPN's critically acclaimed nationally televised series, 'The Season.' UVM's upset also was nominated for an ESPY award in 2005. Standouts that Brennan coached at Vermont include
Eddie Benton, the 1996 winner of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award given to the nation's top senior less than 6-feet tall, Matt Johnson, Kevin Roberson, Trevor Gaines,
T. J. Sorrentine and
Taylor Coppenrath, a finalist in 2005 for both the John Wooden and James Naismith National Player of the Year Awards, the first and only America East player to be on a final ballot for National Player of the Year. == Broadcast career ==