Jeff Brohm is three games into his Power Five head coaching career and there is already chatter that he could be a candidate for an elite job. While listening to unsubstantiated whispers or betting on the coaching carousel is dangerous, there is one big reason Brohm probably won't leave Purdue after the 2017 season.
After a Week 3 dismantling of Missouri, Brohm is 2-1 as Boilermakers' coach and is now 32-11 in three-plus seasons as a head coach — he went 30-10 in three years at Western Kentucky. The 46-year-old Louisville native and former Cardinals' quarterback has only 14 full years of college coaching experience but is a revered offensive mind who learned under Bobby Petrino.
"We want to play the game in a fun fashion, and we want to make it exciting to watch," Brohm said at his introductory press conference last December, while admitting Purdue has struggled mightily recently. "We want to make it exciting to practice. We want to do things creative. We want to stay ahead of the curve. We want to be cutting edge, whatever we can do."
And he's done that. They're averaging 460 yards of offense and 35.7 points — both significant improvements from last year (391 yards, 24.6 points) — and picked up their first win over a non-conference Power Five opponent since 2007 (Notre Dame).
While it's far too early to begin wondering what teams might be interested in filling their head coaching vacancies with Brohm, it's not too early to wonder if that's realistic.
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If Brohm were to voluntarily leave after the 2017 season, he'd owe Purdue $4.9 million, according to Dan Wolken of USA Today. It's common for a coach's new team to foot the bill — or most of it — but given the gigantic sum, it appears highly unlikely it would happen with Brohm.
Nonetheless, his coaching stock — and potential fits elsewhere — is something to keep a close eye on.
