During the debacle that Tennessee’s coaching search started out as before landing Jeremy Pruitt, the Vols had a number of discussions with everyone ranging from Greg Schiano, to Mike Leach, to Dave Doeren, and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm was also connected briefly to the job.
After taking over a program that went 3-9 in 2016, Brohm and his staff quickly put the Boilermakers in the national conversation as a very exciting team to watch, winning three of their first five games and their last three in a row to finish 7-6 on the yera and in a tie for third in the Big Ten West.
Speaking about his involvement in the Vols coaching search for one of the first times, Brohm didn’t get into specifics and simply told the Courier Journal that there was interest from both sides of the deal, and “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
So how did the rumors affect Purdue’s recruiting push? Many in both coaching and fan circles believe that being tied to another job during such a pivotal recruiting time can be a huge detriment, but Brohm explained that his discussions with the Vols had a rather intersting side effect – it actually helped them on the recruiting trail.
“There were people now talking to us that didn’t talk to us before. I hate to say it, but in my opinion, it made – in recruits’ eyes – our coaching staff, and our program, and what we’re doing something more desirable than it was before. It actually boosted our recruiting after that in a positive way.”
Head here to read more from the Courier Journal, including how he handled his discussions with the folks in Knoxville with his superiors at Purdue.
