Brennan, Speidel strike up relationship

Every Monday, Tom Brennan sits down in his Colchester home to pen a hand-written letter.

The correspondence, written in cursive, is mailed out later in the day.

Destination: Columbus, Indiana.

Since last April, Brennan, the former University of Vermont men’s basketball coach, has sent out a note each week to Josh Speidel, striking up a relationship 900 miles apart.

Speidel, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific car crash one year ago Monday, is in Burlington until Thursday with his parents, making his first visit to Vermont since giving a verbal commitment to UVM in the summer of 2014.

The Speidels’ host for the week? None other than Brennan himself.

“It’s so cathartic for me and to put things down on paper, how I feel about him and how I feel about the program,” Brennan said, “and how blessed we feel that’s he’s coming and that he’ll be a Vermont Catamount someday.”

Eleven years since he last coached the Catamounts, Brennan remains as connected as ever to the program he helped build into a mid-major power during the final years of a two-decade run.

“I look at him as the godfather of this program and all the stuff that we are enjoying now, he wasn’t enjoying for most of his career here,” UVM coach John Becker said. “He has a big heart and he does things that people don’t know about.”

That includes his letters to Speidel, who was given a standing ovation Saturday in front of 2,658 at Patrick Gymnasium prior to the America East Conference showdown with Stony Brook.

Of her son’s strength to rebound from the injury, Lisa Speidel told Brennan, “You look in those eyes, they have never given up.”

That moved Brennan to make a connection the old-fashioned way.

“I felt it was something that he would appreciate, his family would appreciate. It means way more to me than it does to them,” Brennan said. “It’s my way of helping him and how much he means to me, the program.

“It just felt like something that I really wanted to do.”

The letters span various topics. Brennan fills in Speidel on his family, his dog, what’s going on in Burlington. But they also deliver heartfelt messages and funny stories, told in a manner in which only the affable “Coach” could pull off.

“We talk on the phone and I love talking to him, but it’s not the same as writing him a letter,” Brennan said. “He knows every Wednesday or Thursday he’s getting something from me.”

Each letter opens with, “My boy,” a greeting Brennan is known to yell out toward his friends and acquaintances. Brennan closes the letters with, “And who loves you baby? TB, that’s who. See you soon.”

The hope is one day Speidel will return the favor and write to Brennan. But the impact has already been felt.

“Knowing who he is and his passion for people I’d would like to say no, it doesn’t surprise me,” Lisa Speidel said. “I think it’s that connection, that validation that UVM and Burlington is where he’s supposed to be.”

Becker said Brennan has continued to be a fixture around the team. The letters to Speidel reaffirm that.

“It speaks to his character,” Becker said. “It’s just another example of how much he still means to this program.”

And Brennan loves his role.

“I don’t want to overstep my bounds in this program,” Brennan said. “John has been so good to me. We are really close, we really are boys. Any way I can help, I want to help.”

This past Monday, Brennan skipped his weekly ritual. But for good reason.

“Because (Speidel) will be sitting right next to me. How cool is that?” Brennan said Saturday.

This story was originally published on Feb. 1, 2016. Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5