Jeff Brohm introduced as Louisville's new head football coach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville Athletic Association board approved the hiring Thursday of Jeff Brohm as new head football coach, handing the former Cardinals player and assistant a six-year contract up to $6 million annually plus performance incentives.

Brohm spent a busy day in his hometown, meeting with friends and other U of L coaches at the Cardinals' NCAA women's volleyball match against Baylor at the KFC Yum! Center before heading downtown for a news conference at Cardinal Stadium.

"My family and I are honored to return home to the University of Louisville, a place we love, which has been so influential in shaping me as a player, a coach and a man," Brohm said in a news release Thursday. "I am extremely grateful and humbled that Dr. Gonzalez, Dr. Schatzel, Josh Heird and the ULAA Board believe that I am the right person to lead this football program. I promise relentless energy, effort, and hard work every single day on behalf of all our coaches, staff and student-athletes. Our goal is to compete for championships while also developing our student-athletes into true leaders on and off the field. These young men will make our university, our community, and our fan base proud to be Louisville Cardinals. This city means a great deal to me and my family. Louisville is who we are. Thank you all for welcoming us back home."

The coach hit the ground running, making contacts with current recruits and touching base with other prospects of interest. He succeeds Scott Satterfield, who went 25-24 in his four seasons at Louisville before leaving earlier this week to take the head coaching job at the University of Cincinnati.

Brohm is a graduate of Trinity High school and U of L, starring at quarterback at both places. He came to Louisville football in 1989 — turning down Notre Dame, Ohio State and others — and waited his turn as a backup to Browning Nagle as the Cards finally started delivering on Howard Schnellenberger's bluster by going 10-1-1 and beating Alabama, 34-7, to put an exclamation point on the 1990 season.

He persevered through a rebuild, breaking an ankle against Tennessee two games into a 2-9 season in 1991 and winning only five of 11 games the following year.

Brohm stayed at Louisville through his fifth season, leading the Cards to nine victories in a dozen games, including victories over No. 23 Arizona State, Texas, Pittsburgh and Michigan State.

As a head coach, he spent three years at Western Kentucky University — going 30-10 with a bowl win in every year — before jumping to Purdue University in 2017. His last two Boilermakers teams finished 6-3 in Big Ten play. His 2022 team won the Big Ten West title, a first for a program competing in a division typically dominated by Wisconsin and Iowa.

His last two teams won 69.2% (2021) and 61.5% (2022) of their games. The last time Purdue won at least 60% of its games in consecutive seasons was 1997 and 1998.

Brohm's career coaching record, to date, is 66-44.

"We're excited to welcome Head Coach Jeff Brohm and his family home to the University of Louisville," Louisville athletic director Josh Heird said in a news release Thursday. "The Brohms are synonymous with Louisville, and Jeff has made a lasting impact on our city as a high school star, college quarterback, professional athlete and coach. But beyond his ties to the city, what excites me most about Jeff is that he's had success at the highest level of college football. To put it simply, Jeff is a proven winner. Along the way, he's done it with an exciting brand of football that remains innovative and entertaining, and he's done it by making the right decisions with the best interest of his student-athletes at the forefront. I knew we needed to identify a tremendous leader for our program who understood the history of Louisville Football, and who would be committed long-term to this school and this community. There's not another coach in America who checks those boxes like Jeff Brohm."

This story will be updated.

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