Brien has over 40 years of sports background & athletic experience which allows him to bring his passion & enthusiasm to his network, COOLAID Sports.  The son of a football coach, Brien excelled in both football & basketball in high school, including earning the honor of being named the finals MVP on the 1993 state basketball team & also All-State recognition for both basketball & football for Jeffersonville High School in Indiana.

After high school, Brien juggled his choices between playing collegiate basketball & football. He made the decision to attend Xavier University on a basketball scholarship in the fall of 1994.  After one year Brien ultimately decided to head west & pursue his dream to play college football.  Hanley excelled as left tackle under CCC Hall of Fame coach Skip Foster at Coffeyville Community college in 1995.  Brien was named First Team Junior College All-American, First Team All-Jayhawk Conference, and was rated the #1 Junior College player in the country.

In the Spring of 1997, Brien was recruited by & transferred to Kansas State University under Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder.  He quickly earned a starting position as left guard & helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back bowl appearances in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl & 1998 Alamo Bowl respectively.  During his tenure at Kansas State, he received Honorable Mention All-Big XII in 1998.  Hanley signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals but was released due to injury in 1998. 

After graduation from KSU, Brien lived in Kansas City for 11 years & spent time volunteering as an offensive & defensive line coach for the Della Lamb Youth Football team in Kansas City, Missouri.  In 2011 Brien & his wife April relocated to Texas where they currently reside.

In the fall of 2017, Brien was nominated & inducted into the Coffeyville Community College Letterman’s Club Hall of Fame for football.  In the Spring of 2018 Brien was honored as a team member inductee into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame for the Jeffersonville High School State Championship Silver Anniversary Team.  In the Spring of 2019 Brien earned the individual honor of being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the fall of 2019 Brien joined Gopowercat.com publisher Tim Fitzgerald as an alumni analyst on The Powercat Post-Game Podcast evaluating & analyzing the Kansas State Wildcats Football team for both pre & post-game analysis in which he continued on the 2020 season as well.