LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – You don’t always have to rifle the stat sheets to determine a coach’s reputation as a quarterback guru. At Louisville, you just need to look at the crowd in the quarterback room.
In an age when few players seem willing to sit for any length of time, no fewer than 9 would-be gunslingers are taking QB reps during Jeff Brohm’s first preseason in Louisville, even after he added a presumptive starter in veteran Jack Plummer.
It speaks not only to his ability to put together high-octane passing attacks, but to the success he’s had preparing players to make the most of NFL opportunities when they have gotten them. Brohm’s offenses have ranked in the Top 25 in FBS in passing in 8 of his 9 seasons as a head coach, often without household names throwing or catching the passes.
Jack Plummer throws while a group of contenders for the QB position at Louisville look on.
He has molded guys like Mike White (WKU) into QBs who could make the most of NFL starting chances. David Blough (Purdue) has a chance to be the opening week starter in Arizona, and 2023 Las Vegas Raiders draftee Aidan O’Connell (Purdue) has turned heads in his first preseason games.
For Plummer, familiarity was just one of the reasons he transferred from California to rejoin Brohm at Louisville. He played four seasons for Brohm at Purdue, appearing in 21 games with 13 starts over the final three.
“Well, a lot of it is the system and it's a great system,” Plummer said. “The plan is very quarterback-friendly. I mean every quarterback he's had back to Western Kentucky has played in the NFL and some are still playing in the NFL. That's something that's drawn me. My goals are to play at the next level and I think that this a this place will help me do that. Being at California was good for me, just getting a lot of game experience, starting all 12 games and learning that way, now coming back to a system that I know and like playing in, with familiarity with the coaches. I think it was a good decision.“
Jeff’s younger brother Brian, Louisville’s QB coach and co-offensive coordinator, says they’re glad to have someone who is deeply familiar with the system in their first year at Louisville.
“It's showtime for Jack,” Brohm said. “It's his sixth year. He's been a starter in multiple programs, done a really good job, both Purdue and at Cal. He's a veteran guy and I think he's kind of earned that right. . . . He's really smart. He understands football, understands coverages defenses, fronts, blitzes -- to the point where he can correct us coaches sometimes where he sees something. . . . He's got good athleticism. He's got good size, good pocket awareness and he throws a good football. So, he has a lot of the traits that you're looking for in your quarterback. We're always working on being consistently accurate. That's one thing we're always trying to improve.”
The Brohm system: "Quarterback friendly"
If you’re looking for how Jeff Brohm differs as a quarterback-friendly coach than, say, Scott Satterfield, who left Louisville for Cincinnati after last season, there’s no one better to ask than Brock Domann. He started 4 games for the Cardinals last season, and is back in the club’s crowded QB room this year.
“There’s a lot more reading involved,” Domann said. “Last year in Satt’s offense, it was very strict. Like, 1-2-3 to 4, where in this offense we still have reads, but there’s a little more flexibility of like, ‘Hey, make a play. Get the first down.’ There’s a little more allowing you to see it differently. Because, both (Brohms) being quarterbacks they understand that my vantage point is different from anyone else’s. You know, one’s in the booth and one’s on the sideline, but you’re on the field and they just want you to take over. I really love that. I think you’re going to see a really high level of quarterback play because of that freedom.”
Domann said he got very comfortable with Satterfield’s more structured system, but is re-settling into Brohm’s allowing QBs to “play more free.” He said it resembled more what he had played in high school.
Brady Allen is another quarterback who followed Brohm to Louisville from Purdue. The 6-5, 215-pound redshirt freshman from Fort Branch, Ind., says Brohm asks a lot of his quarterbacks.
“You’ve got to have toughness, you know, you’ve got to be smart,” Allen said. “I think his big three things are, smart, tough and accurate. And I think, you know, you look at everybody in NFL and those, those traits are very, very common. And they’re the three big traits he demands of us.”
The Brohm Playbook: "An answer for everything"
Brohm's playbook also is demanding. The sheer number of plays and formations was a bit of a shock for returning players and those who transferred in. Harrison Bailey, a 6-5, 225 transfer from UNLV who also played at Tennessee, said that Brohm’s reputation, and some ties to players on the roster, brought him to Louisville.
“I would say coach Jeff and coach Brian are masterminds of college football,” Bailey said. “There’s an answer for everything. We have so many plays, it’s ridiculous – more than I’ve ever even learned in my time. But we literally have an answer for everything, so whatever they throw at us, we should have an answer for.”
Brian Brohm said the complexity of the playbook can play dividends.
“We’re an NFL-style system” he said. “When I say that, I mean we’re going to be multiple. We’re going to have different formations, different personnel, and we’re going to change things up week to week. And our guys have to learn that – why we’re doing it, how we’re attacking a defense. There are systems out there that aren’t as complex. Everyone has their own way of doing it. But we like to have a lot of different ways that we can attack a defense. So we have a lot of different stuff; therefore our guys have to learn a lot of football.”
Jeff Brohm played for Dennis Lampley at Trinity, then Howard Schnellenberger at Louisville. He went to the NFL and played for Bobby Ross in San Diego, and went to a Super Bowl. With Washington a year later, he played for Norv Turner. In San Francisco he played for George Seifert and Steve Mariucci. A year later he went to Tampa Bay and played behind Trent Dilfer for head coach Tony Dungy. In 1999, he played for Mike Shanahan in Denver.
A quote from Louisville offensive coordinator Brian Brohm on the program's offensive philosophy.
Those are some high powered mentors, and some great offensive minds. In the college game, he learned from Bobby Petrino.
“You take a little from every stop, and you mold it to make it your own,” Brohm said. “And you try to take a guy with some ability, and put a system around him that can make him successful.”
That’s what he’s hoping to do with Plummer this season.
The closest thing Brohm has likely ever had to a young phenom was his brother, Brian, who now is Louisville’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. Brian was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. He has the advantage of having played for his brother, so he knows the demands on the quarterbacks he’s coaching.
And the pair might have something of a phenom in 4-star prospect Pierce Clarkson, who missed most of spring with a foot injury but has shown some impressive flashes in preseason camp.
“Pierce was here in the spring but didn't get the reps,” Brohm said. “So now he's getting the reps to go along with that. He's done a really good job in the meeting rooms of knowing what to do answering questions. So, he's very in tune that way and now we just need to get him on the field and let him go out there and execute.”
As the season approaches, the quarterback room brings an impressive comfort level to Louisville coaches. In a first season – at any school – that’s a luxury.
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