Brendan McCole (born 1997/8) is an American Gaelic footballer who plays as full-back for St Naul's and the Donegal county team.
McCole was captain when DCU won the 2020 Sigerson Cup, becoming the third Donegal-based player to achieve this distinction, after Jim McGuinness and Christy Toye.
[2] McCole's father Donie — who was born in Greenock, Scotland — played as a wing-back on the Donegal team that won the 1982 All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship.
[3] McCole studied Education and Training at Dublin City University (DCU) and became captain of the Freshers team that won the All-Ireland title when he was in first year.
[2][4] That team included fellow Donegal player Conor Morrison, Thomas Galligan, Seán Bugler, Shane Carthy, Evan Comerford and Paddy Small (Dublin), Kevin Flynn (Kildare), Brian Stack (Roscommon), Micheál Bannigan and David Garland (Monaghan).
However, in the 2019 National Football League Division Two final against Meath, he lasted 13 minutes before McGee was brought on and Leo McLoone was sent back as additional protection (this was not offered to McCole when he was on the pitch).
[17][18][19][20] In the 2021 Ulster Senior Football Championship, he started the first and last of Donegal's three fixtures against Down in the opening round and against Tyrone in the semi-final and made a substitute appearance against Derry in the quarter-final.
[31][32][33] His regular appearances coincided with an injury to Neil McGee and the Belfast Telegraph said of McCole: "His man-marking skills, adept covering and willingness to launch counter-attacks have earmarked him as one of the most polished players in the Ulster series".