Terry Brennan
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
June 11, 1928 Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Playing career | |
| 1945–1948 | Notre Dame |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1949–1952 | Chicago Mount Carmel HS (IL) |
| 1953 | Notre Dame (freshmen) |
| 1954–1958 | Notre Dame |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 32–18 (college) |
Terence Patrick Brennan (born June 11, 1928) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1954 to 1958, compiling a record of 32–18.
A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a standout multi-sport athlete at Marquette University High School, Brennan played halfback at Notre Dame from 1945 to 1948, graduating in 1949.
After graduating from Notre Dame, Brennan coached at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago and won three successive city championships. Brennan returned to Notre Dame in 1953 as freshman football coach and succeeded Frank Leahy as head coach the following year. When asked if he thought he was too young to be named head coach at the age of 25, Brennan replied, "Oh, I don't know. I'll be 26 in a few months."
Brennan got off to a good start with a 9–1 campaign in 1954 with players recruited by Leahy. In 1955, the Irish slipped a notch to 8–2. Then the roof fell in. Brennan was forced to play mostly sophomores in 1956 because of numerous injuries and the result was a 2–8 record, the first losing season for Notre Dame since 1933 and the worst in the history of the school. The lone bright spot was Paul Hornung, who won the Heisman Trophy. Many fans called for Brennan's ouster, but the young coach was retained.
One thing that worked against Brennan was a movement by school administrators to put more emphasis on academics and less on athletics, leading to the popular notion that Notre Dame had deemphasized football. Consequently, Brennan had to make do with players of lesser talent than in previous years, with a limit of 20 football scholarships per class, while continuing to play tough schedules. While academics had always come first at Notre Dame, Frank Leahy had carte blanche to do what he wished until the Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh became president of the university. One of Hesburgh's first priorities as president was to reaffirm Notre Dame's position on academics.
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