LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The 2025 college football season will be Jeff Brohm’s 12th as a head coach.
Three seasons creating a buzz at Western Kentucky. Six seasons to win the Big Ten West title at Purdue. Now Brohm is accelerating into Year Three at the University of Louisville.
Next week in Green Bay, Wisconsin, former Cardinal Tyler Shough projects to become the sixth quarterback that Brohm developed as a head coach to get his crack at the NFL.
Actually, Shough will more than get his shot. Unlike several Brohm pupils who had to grind their way into the league as non-drafted free agents, Shough will be drafted, higher than any Brohm QB.
Some say on Friday April 25, in the second or third round during Day Two. Others argue that Shough has worked his way late in the first round on Thursday, April 24.
Dianna Russini, who writes about the NFL for The Athletic, quoted an NFL coach she did not name predicting that Shough would become the best quarterback in the 2025 draft class.
The story will be continued this season with Miller Moss, the latest quarterback eager to benefit from the Brohm Effect.
After losing his starting job at Southern Cal following a three-interception game against Washington in early November, Moss entered the transfer portal. Remember that Moss became one of the fall guys for a disappointing USC season and his younger replacement had a worse completion percentage and higher interception rate. The issues at USC were more than quarterback issues.
Moss quickly selected Louisville as the place where he intends to get back to the guy who started last season by completing better than 65% of his throws with 8 touchdowns and two interceptions. And that was following his 6-touchdown performance against Louisville that got Brohm’s attention in the 2023 Holiday Bowl.
After Louisville concluded spring practice with its public scrimmage Friday night, I asked Moss about the differences in Brohm’s system and the one he directed under Lincoln Riley at USC.
“I don’t think it’s like starting from zero because it still is football, in some respects,” Moss said.
“But it’s very different. It’s a lot more on the quarterback, which, like I said before, is one of the reasons that I came here because I wanted to evolve and become the best version of myself as a player …
“I’m excited to continue to grow. Both Jeff and Brian (Brohm, the Cards’ offensive coordinator) have done a great job. They’re very different coaching styles, but I think they play off one another very, very well.
“That’s been good for me as a quarterback to use both of them as a tool and as a resource.”
Moss is positioned to continue Brohm’s record of taking a quarterback who had inconsistent moments at his previous destination and crafting him into an improved playmaker.
Mike White transformed from a 50% passer at South Florida to a touchdown machine with 67% accuracy at Western Kentucky. He’s made a solid living as a four-year backup in the NFL.
Aidan O’Connell blossomed from Division III scholarship guy into a quarterback who has started 17 games the last two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brandon Doughty (WKU) had a run on the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad. David Blough (Purdue) played in nine NFL games before transitioning to becoming the assistant quarterbacks coach with the Washington Commanders. Jack Plummer (Purdue & U of L) remains on the Carolina Panthers’ roster after a season on the practice squad.
And Shough stayed healthy through a dozen games while throwing for more than twice as many yards in any of his first six college seasons.
Moss has next. Brohm outlined several improvements Moss needs to make.
“I think throwing with conviction as much as you can,” Brohm said. “Stepping into the throw. Throwing with power. Throwing with pop.
“If you do have to occasionally throw off the back foot, you’ve still got to snap the wrist and make sure that thing is spinning and getting there on target.”
Moss threw several crisp deep passes in the spring game. His stats from last season suggest that is an area where Moss can improve. He averaged only 7.1 yards per attempt, which ranked ninth among Big Ten quarterbacks last. Shough averaged 8.2, Plummer 8.1 in 2023.
“In my recruiting visit we kind of watched a whole deep ball tape,” Miller said. “That’s something (Brohm) takes a lot of pride in and I think we take a lot of pride in here. And that’s a little difference from what I’m used to …
“…I’m going to continue to put everything I have into it to continue to master it, but I’m definitely not there yet.”
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