Salt Lake City, Utah (June 15, 2023) - Crimson Collective, the new NIL collective that has the support of University of Utah and Utah Athletics, today announced Kyle Brennan as Chief Executive Officer.
“After an exhaustive search, we are very excited to welcome Kyle as the leader of Crimson Collective,” said Matt Garff, founder and Chairman of Crimson Collective. “Crimson Collective is proud to be the NIL Collective for Utah Football and to have the endorsement of Utah Athletics. We knew it was very important to have someone in this role that had deep relationships with the community, athletics and football and we found that with Kyle. We are confident that he will help us further our mission to build up our team by building up our community!”
The Crimson Collective will help Utah student athletes build their own unique brand and connect them to our community in ways that support causes that are important to them, while making the most of their name, image and likeness marketing opportunities. This is our team - our town.
“Leaving Utah for three years really put into perspective what a special place this community is and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to return,” said Brennan. “More than ever, NIL has allowed all of us to have an impact on college athletics. We have to build a sustainable organization. It is a priority of mine that we generate enthusiasm and energy by working closely with the community, student athletes, athletics and coaches to make this one of the most successful NIL collectives in the country. We’re going to need support from all of Ute Nation.”
“We’re pleased to see the continued growth of the Crimson Collective, and their hire of Kyle Brennan as CEO,” said University of Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan. “The board of the collective has done a terrific job in hiring a seasoned professional who will help the Crimson Collective continue its growth trajectory, to help our student-athletes have more opportunities to make an impact in the community. Kyle and his family have deep roots in this community, and I’m confident that the board’s vision for Kyle’s leadership of the Crimson Collective will be a positive development for our student-athletes and our community.”
“Having Kyle Brennan back in Salt Lake City as the CEO of the newly-formed Crimson Collective is huge for our program,” said Utah Head Football Coach Kyle Whittingham. “With NIL at the forefront of recruiting, it is vital to have someone that knows our team and our culture to help Crimson Collective be successful through community involvement, and to help support our program’s upward trajectory.”
Brennan spent the bulk of his career in the University of Utah athletics department. He was hired in 2008 as Utah’s assistant athletics director for compliance and was named associate A.D. for compliance in 2009. In 2011, he was promoted to special assistant to the athletics director, and in 2012, he was named senior associate A.D. for administration. He was named the school’s first deputy athletics director/chief operating officer in December of 2014.
In 2017, Brennan was responsible for securing a $15.6 million gift to start the varsity men’s lacrosse program at Utah, representing the largest donation in department history at the time. He also negotiated new multimedia rights and department-wide apparel contracts, which exceeded prior agreements by $20 million. In his four years supervising external relations, the Crimson Club Annual Fund revenue reached historic highs.
As the chief administrator over new facility projects, Brennan chaired Utah’s five-year strategic planning committee and played a key supervisory role in the fundraising and construction of the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center (opened in August of 2013), as well as the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility (2015) and the outdoor tennis courts, and also the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium, which completed construction in 2021.
Most recently, Brennan was the athletic director at Illinois State University, where he raised $12 million for a new indoor facility, exceeding the previous department fundraising yearly record of $2 million. Additionally, he worked with local business leaders and donors to create an NIL collective to provide opportunities for all sports.
Prior to joining the staff at Utah, Brennan served as the director of compliance at TCU (2005-06) and Ball State (2006-08). He was an estate planning attorney in Denver, before beginning his work in collegiate athletics as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois (2004-05).
Brennan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Calvin College and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Denver in 2001. He and his wife Beth have three sons: Patrick, Mac and Murphy.
ABOUT CRIMSON COLLECTIVE:
With the endorsement of Utah Athletics, the Crimson Collective, a 501(c)(3) organization, has a mission to lift local organizations and causes. This mission will enable student athletes to leverage their name, image and likeness to raise awareness for the incredible causes within our community. This is our team – our town.
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