Jeff Brohm reaches deal with Louisville to become next football coach, sources say

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jeff Brohm, a former star quarterback and assistant coach at the University of Louisville, is expected to become the Cardinals' next head coach.

Multiple sources told WDRB on Wednesday that Brohm met with Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski at noon and spoke to the team at 1 p.m. 

Sources said Brohm and Louisville athletics director Josh Heird met in person Monday afternoon, the same day Scott Satterfield announced he was leaving Louisville to become head coach at Cincinnati and two days after Brohm coached Purdue in the Big Ten championship game for the first time. 

Brohm, 51, is expected to be introduced as Louisville coach as early as Thursday. U of L must give 24-hour legal notice of the proper board meeting to approve his contract, which sources said will be in the neighborhood of six years and $36 million.

University of Louisville interim president Dr. Lori Gonzalez and director of athletics Josh Heird will hold a news conference at 4 p.m. following a UofL Athletic Association Executive Committee and Board of Directors meeting.

Brohm decided to return to his hometown despite a determined counter-offer from Purdue, which did not want to lose him. His younger brother, Brian, a former U of L quarterback, is expected to join him as offensive coordinator, along with his brother Greg, a former receiver at U of L, in an executive administration role.

Brohm went 36-34 in six seasons in West Lafayette, but that record was more impressive than it would appear on the surface. The Boilermakers went 6-3 in the Big Ten West division in each of the last two seasons, winning the 2022 title last month.

He took over at Purdue in December 2016 after three successful seasons at Western Kentucky, where he won back-to-back Conference USA titles.

But his ties to U of L and the community are strong and substantial. Brohm and his older brother, Greg, played on state championship teams at Trinity High School and then were two of the earliest believers in what Howard Schnellenberger pledged to build with Louisville football in the last 1980s. Jeff Brohm turned down scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee and other primetime programs.

Both Greg and Jeff played on the Cards' 1990 team that finished 9-1-1 and defeated Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl, a seminal season and moment in U of L football history.

Their father, Oscar, preceded them as a Louisville quarterback in the 1960s. And their younger brother, Brian, later quarterbacked the Louisville team that finished 12-1 and won the Orange Bowl following the 2006 season. Jeff Brohm served as the quarterbacks coach on that squad, part of a run as a Cardinal assistant that spanned from 2003-08.

Greg (operations) and Brian (offensive coordinator, QB coach) have served on Jeff's staff at Purdue. All three Brohm brothers have continued to own homes in Louisville even while working at Purdue.

Jeff Brohm has earned respect across the game for his ability to develop a passing attack. His first two WKU teams led Conference USA in passing. At Purdue, Brohm's teams have finished either first or second in passing yards per game in the Big Ten for the past five seasons.

Three of Brohm's former quarterbacks — David Blough of Purdue and Mike White and Brandon Doughty of WKU — have all played in the National Football League.

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