Adam Breneman (born March 31, 1995) is a former American football tight end and a current college football coach. Breneman played for the UMass Minutemen, where he transferred in 2016 after playing three years for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He played high school football at Cedar Cliff High School (Camp Hill, PA), and was a highly touted recruit. Breneman’s football career has been highly publicized, large in part to his advocacy for Penn State in wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.

As a true freshman in 2013, Breneman had a breakout season and was named a 247Sports.com True Freshman All-American. During the 2014 season Breneman redshirted due to an injury. In 2015, his redshirt sophomore season, Breneman battled injuries and appeared in two games, with one start. He officially left Penn State in December 2015 after completing his degree. He then worked as the campaign manager for Mike Regan.

In the summer of 2016, news broke that Breneman would be transferring to the University of Massachusetts for his final two years of eligibility. During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Breneman led the country in receiving by a tight end and was named an All-American.

In March 2018, after he was widely regarded to be one of the top tight ends drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, he announced his retirement from football due to the same knee injury that plagued him at Penn State.

After his retirement from football, Breneman worked as a political operative in Pennsylvania and a college football commentator and podcast host.

In 2020, Breneman changed career paths and became a college football coach, joining Herm Edwards’ coaching staff at Arizona State University.

Personal life and family

Adam Breneman was born in Harrisburg, PA to Brian and Sherri Breneman. Breneman grew up in York County, Pennsylvania until his family moved to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania when he was in middle school.

Adam’s father, Brian, was an All-American football player at Delaware Valley College, and works as an executive in the insurance industry. Adam has a younger brother, Grant, and a younger sister, Julia. Grant was the quarterback for Cedar Cliff High School from 2014 to 2016, and has since graduated. Grant is now the starting quarterback at Colgate University and was the 2017 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

High school

Breneman attended Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, PA. He previously went to Allen Middle School, both in the West Shore School District. At Cedar Cliff, he was ranked the best tight end recruit in the country by ESPN, and was rated a five-star recruit by Scout.com. He had scholarship offers from over 30 schools, including Penn State University, University of Alabama, Stanford University, Florida State University, Auburn University, University of Notre Dame, and Ohio State University.

Breneman is the all-time leader in receiving by a tight end in Pennsylvania high school football history. He is also the all-time leading receiver in Cedar Cliff High School history, holding the school records for career yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns, as well as every single-season receiving record. In his three seasons of varsity football at Cedar Cliff, he totaled 144 receptions, 2,244 yards, and 23 touchdowns.

College football career

True Freshman season

Breneman enrolled early at Penn State in Spring 2013 after graduating high school a semester early. During his true freshman season, he appeared in 11 games, earning the starting tight end job for the second half of the season. Breneman finished the season with 15 receptions for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns, earning him 247Sports.com True Freshman All-America honors. His biggest game of the season came in the season finale at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he caught 3 passes for 78 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown in the first quarter. His 68-yard touchdown is the longest touchdown by a tight end in Penn State football history.

Redshirt season

In August 2014, Penn State announced that Breneman would miss the season with a knee injury.

Sophomore season

Prior to the 2015 season, Penn State strength and conditioning coach told the media that Breneman was is top shape following his knee injury. He stated that Breneman ran a 4.62 40-yard dash in July, which would have been one of the best times by a tight end at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine.

However, Adam battled injuries throughout the 2015 season, appearing in only two games. Breneman played against Ohio State, and was the starting tight end against Michigan State.

Junior season

During the summer of 2016, news broke that Breneman would graduate transfer to the University of Massachusetts. During the 2016 season, Breneman was the best producing tight end in all of college football, leading the nation in receptions by a tight end.

Breneman was named a John Mackey Award semi-finalist, the New England Player of the Year and a Campus Insiders All-American, among other awards. After contemplating declaring for the NFL Draft following his junior season, Breneman decided to stay in school for his final season.

Senior season

During the 2017 season, Breneman once again led the country in receptions by a tight end. Despite missing a game with a minor ankle injury, Breneman finished the year with 64 receptions, 764 yards, and 4 touchdowns. He was once again a John Mackey Award semi-finalist and a USA Today, Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus, and CBS Sports 2nd Team All-American. Following the season, he was considered one of the top tight ends in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Breneman finished his college football career with 149 receptions, 1,758 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Despite just two seasons at the University of Massachusetts, he finished his career as the all-time leader in receiving by a tight end in school history.

After his senior season ended, Breneman signed with Octagon Sports for his professional representation. His agent was Casey Muir.

Retirement from football

On March 13, 2018, Breneman released a letter on the blog site Medium officially announcing his retirement from football due to a knee injury. In the letter, Breneman wrote:

“After additional medical evaluations and creative treatments, my doctors and I have come to the realization that there is no solution that will allow me to continue to play football. It hurts me to share that at just 22 years old, I am officially retiring from the game of football. Football has given me so much in my life and I am very proud of all my accomplishments both on and off the field.”

Philanthropy

During his senior year of high school, Breneman started Catch The Cure, a fundraiser to raise awareness and money to fight Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Catch The Cure raised over $200,000 for A.L.S. research, with all funds benefiting New York based research organization Project ALS

Breneman served as the Vice President and a member of the board for the Penn State football chapter of Uplifting Athletes during his career at Penn State.

In 2017, Breneman was named a finalist for the prestigious Jason Witten Man of the Year Award. This award is “presented annually to the Division I college football player who has demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.”

In 2019, Breneman joined the board of directors of The Peyton Walker Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based organization which provides free heart screenings for youth in order to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

Post-football

After graduating from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business in December 2015, Breneman was hired by Mike Regan to serve as his campaign manager for his 2016 Pennsylvania Senate run. In April 2016, Regan won the primary election for Pennsylvania Senate, District 31 with over 52% of the vote in a four-person race. After the victory, Regan offered Breneman the job of his chief of staff at just 21 years old. Breneman briefly accepted, but then instead opted to return to football at the University of Massachusetts and pursue his MBA.

Immediately following his retirement in 2018, Breneman took a job as a consultant with Harrisburg-based consulting firm Red Maverick Media.

In late March 2018, Breneman became the campaign manager for John Joyce, who was elected to U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district. Despite starting off as the underdog, Joyce won the 8-way primary and now serves in the United States Congress. After the win, Breneman returned to Red Maverick Media in Harrisburg.

Breneman also launched a broadcasting and media career. Beginning in September 2018, Breneman began hosting his own weekly Penn State Football show on Pennlive.com, the website for popular newspaper The Patriot-News. On his show, Breneman and Patriot News Penn State beat writer Bob Flounders analyze the Penn State football team. The show appears weekly online and has garnered tens of thousands of views.

Breneman was the color commentator for the 2019 Big 33 Football Classic all-star game which aired on Stadium Network. He has also commentated college football games produced by FloSports and ESPN+.

In July 2019, CBS Sports Radio announced that Adam will be hosting a sports talk show during the fall. The show features analysis on Penn State Football and air live on WHGB in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In 2019, Adam launched a podcast titled “The Adam Breneman Show.” On it, he interviews college and NFL football players about overcoming adversity and their careers. Adam’s podcast generates thousands of download each episode.

Coaching career

In February 2020, 247Sports first reported that Breneman would be getting into the football coaching industry and joining Herm Edwards’ coaching staff at Arizona State University. He currently serves as an offensive assistant at Arizona State.