When Jeff Brohm woke up Monday morning, he assumed his press conference would just be about Purdue's upcoming appearance in the Citrus Bowl against LSU. Scott Satterfield's move from Louisville to Cincinnati changed that.
Brohm is in many ways the White Whale of would-be Louisville football coaches.
He's a Louisville native, the son of a Louisville high school football coach, a Ring of Honor member as a Louisville quarterback, and a former Cardinals position coach and coordinator. His older brother Greg played wide receiver at U of L and is now Brohm's chief of staff. His younger brother Brian was an even better U of L quarterback than Big Bro and is now his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Jeff Brohm's coaching career began as the head coach of the Arena Football League's Louisville Fire, and he went 30-10 with two Conference USA championships at nearby Western Kentucky.
Furthermore, Brohm is at a place in his career where it could make professional sense for him to move on. The 51-year-old is in his sixth season at Purdue. He's 36-34 overall, and 17-9 (12-6 Big Ten) over the past two seasons, including a Big Ten Championship appearance on Saturday. A reasonable observer could look at the situation and say Brohm has taken Purdue as high as the engineering school in western Indiana can go.
Asked about the possibility of coaching his alma mater and returning to his home town, Brohm effectively evaded the oncoming rush.
JEFF BROHM ASKED ABOUT HIS INTEREST IN THE LOUISVILLE JOB | "To be quite honest, I know no more than you guys do. I was in meetings this morning . . . found out on Twitter. . . . Other than that, no more information."
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) December 5, 2022
Brohm later specified he has had no contact with Louisville about its hours-old opening.
Brohm has turned down Louisville once before. The Cardinals approached him in 2018, after his second season in West Lafayette.
"While going home was very appealing to me, the timing was not ideal," he said at the time. "I believe that remaining at Purdue is the right thing to do, and I am excited for the challenges ahead."
Louisville eventually hired Satterfield and, well, here we are.
Brohm made $5.1 million in 2022, a significant step up from the $3.25 million Louisville paid Satterfield. However, the extension Brohm signed in April does not chain him to the desk on the third floor of Purdue's Kozuch Football Performance Complex; the buyout for him to take another job is just $1 million.
The closest parallel to Brohm and Louisville's respective history in major college athletics is Roy Williams and North Carolina basketball. The Tar Heel State native, Tar Heel player and former Tar Heel assistant turned down the Tar Heels once, in 2000. Matt Doherty ultimately got the job, and was dismissed four years later. The second time around, Williams took the job. To quote Bear Bryant, Mama called.
Mama will almost certainly call Brohm once more in the coming days. Will Brohm answer?