It turns out that University of Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan might not be quite a one-in-a-million player after all.

You might be surprised to learn there are at least 18 quarterbacks just like him coming out of high schools this year. Or, so the Warrior coaches say they have been expressly promised.

UH quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison said he's received that many unsolicited video tapes and DVDs touting wanna-be recruits who see themselves — or whose coaches see their players — as the "next Colt" for the Warriors.

While the most common measuring sticks of a season are win-loss records and national rankings, the 2006 season has given UH coaches a new standard for gauging public perception of their offense: an avalanche of unsolicited video tapes and DVDs on their doorstep.

And coming off an 11-3 season, No. 24 national ranking and record-setting offense, the parcels are pouring in. FedEx and UPS know the way to Manoa by heart and assistant coach Ron Lee's office looks like a stock room at Blockbuster or Netflix.

Whereas in most years coaches they say they might get 100 to 150 tapes and such from prospective quarterbacks and a similar amount from receivers, this year the numbers are already well over 300 at both positions with more coming in advance of the Feb. 7 national signing day, the first date that high school seniors can sign binding commitments.

So much so that Lee's third-floor office at UH has four stacks of video cassettes on a file cabinet and four cardboard boxes of them on the floor. One year Morrison said he figured UH heard from at least one player from 75 percent of the states and Canada. This year he figures it is a lot more — but has been under such a stack that he hasn't had time to total them up.

"I attribute most of it to the year that Colt had, the games we had on TV late in the season, how prolific the offense was," Morrison said. As Lee said, "if you were a high school receiver or quarterback and you saw us on TV, where would you want to go?"

Yet for all those who dream of of becoming a Warrior, it would be easier to gain academic admission to Harvard than get a football scholarship from UH at those positions this year. The Warriors are investing their allotted scholarships heavily on defense and might only sign three or so receivers and might not sign a quarterback. They were expected to award one at quarterback but with Brennan's return even that is now up in the air, coaches say.

But not to fret about losing out on the next Brennan. "When we look at the films they weren't quite as much like Colt as I think they thought they were," Morrison said. "It is usually more of a case of wishful thinking."

And, this year a lot of people wish they could be the next Colt.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.