Jeff Brohm on Louisville at Fenway Bowl: 'The timing was right to come back home'

Jeff Brohm left Purdue to head back home and coach Louisville, but like new Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield, Brohm only watched the Fenway Bowl between the Cardinals and Bearcats. But, the new Cardinals head coach felt it was finally the right time to move on to a new challenge.

“Well, just like you said, it’s my home,” Brohm said on the ESPN broadcast. “That’s where I played, it’s where I was born and grew up. Just have a lot of people here that really have given to me over the years. It just felt after six years of coaching at Purdue, a great university with tremendous leadership that we’ve made a lot of progress. We found a way to get to the Big Ten championship game. So I just felt that the timing was right to come back home and try to help this football team here a little bit.”

Brohm will have to keep a roster together, recruit and hit the transfer portal in a short amount of time to get the Cardinals to a highly competitive level, at least where he believes the program should be in the future.

“Well, I’m thrilled to death to get a chance to coach these guys,” Brohm said. “I think that they play hard. I got a chance to watch them practice last week. The practice had a lot of great energy. I thought they were fired up to play in this bowl game. I really felt that they would go out and do a great job which they had, to this point, really playing good football, but it’s a really good group of guys. 

“I think that this football team is hungry. They want to go and prove themselves. I think they’re eager to get back on the field next season and showcase what they’re all about with the new staff. So we’re excited to get things underway and just a really good group of guys.”

Brohm was also asked about what Deion Branch brings to the staff. Branch served as interim head coach Saturday in the Fenway Bowl.

“Deion Branch is a tremendous person who’s achieved a great deal,” Brohm said. “Not only at the University of Louisville, but also the NFL. So he demands and he’s earned a lot of respect that I think the players understand that he’s there for them. He wants to help them achieve their goals. He’s done a great job in this bowl game and getting this team ready to play. When your players know that you love him  and care about them they’re normally going to do great things for you. So I just think he’s a great addition to this staff. He’s done a tremendous job since he’s been here and I think he’ll continue to do great things.”

Essentially it’s the dream job for Brohm. He is 66-44 overall as a head coach with Western Kentucky and Purdue and went 36-34 with the Boilermakers and led them to the Big Ten Championship Game this season. Brohm played for Louisville from 1989-93.