Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American college

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He is the head football coach at his alma mater, the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

, a position he has held since the 2023 season. Brohm played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

under coach Howard Schnellenberger from 1989 to 1993. He played professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for seven seasons from 1994 to 2000 and the XFL in 2001. Brohm served as the head football coach at

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

from 2014 to 2016 and

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 2017 to 2022. Brohm was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. His father, Oscar, was a quarterback for Louisville and a high school football coach in Louisville. He attended Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduation from high school, he was selected by the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

in the seventh round of the 1989 MLB Draft, but he instead decided to pursue playing football and baseball at the University of Louisville. After spending his freshman season as a backup quarterback, he was once again selected in the MLB Draft, this time in the fourth round by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. This time Brohm had a change of heart and decided to pursue a professional baseball career in the summers when he wasn't playing football. After two summers, he decided to drop baseball and focus solely on football. As starting quarterback for two seasons, he led the Cardinals to the 1993 Liberty Bowl. Brohm went undrafted in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. He played seven years as a quarterback in the NFL, with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in 1994, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in 1995, the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

from 1995 to 1997, the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in 1998, the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in 1999 and the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

in 2000. He also played one season with the

Orlando Rage The Orlando Rage was an American football team based in Orlando, Florida as part of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation and by NBC, a major television network in the Unite ...

of the XFL, where he was named to the All-XFL team despite having his season end early with a shoulder injury. In 2002, Brohm moved to the

AF2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

where he became the head coach of the Louisville Fire. Brohm returned to the University of Louisville in 2003 to work under Bobby Petrino. He spent the next six years as a quarterback coach, passing game coordinator,

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

, and assistant head coach for the Cardinals and helped them win the 2007 Orange Bowl. In 2009, Brohm went to

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

, where he was reunited with Schnellenberger as offensive coordinator. Brohm then went on to coach at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

from 2010 to 2011, at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

in 2012, and reuniting with Petrino at Western Kentucky University in 2013 as an associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. When Petrino returned to Louisville in 2014, Brohm was promoted to head coach of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. As head coach, he led the team to three

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s, winning two of them. In 2016, Brohm took the head coaching position at Purdue University. Brohm returned to Louisville as head coach in December 2022.

Early life

Brohm was born in

, in 1971. He is the son of Donna and Oscar Brohm. Brohm and his siblings Greg, Kimberly, and

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

were born in Louisville while his father was an assistant football coach at Trinity High School in Louisville. Brohm was a standout high school player at Trinity High School in Louisville. He was named the "Kentucky High School Player of the Decade" for the 1980s and won the Kentucky "Mr. Football" Award in 1988 while leading his team to a state championship and undefeated season. Brohm was inducted as a member of the 2014 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame class.

College playing career

1989 and 1990 seasons

In February 1989, Brohm committed to play football for Howard Schnellenberger's

Louisville Cardinals football The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in the sport of American football. The Cardinals compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and compete i ...

team. Brohm played in every game, but was relegated to backing up Browning Nagle. The 1990 Cardinals ended the season 10–1–1 in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. Brohm played for two series during the Fiesta Bowl, but on his first series he was intercepted. He was intercepted again on his second series by Charles Garner who returned it 49-yards for a touchdown.

1991 season

After Nagle graduated, Brohm became the starting quarterback for the 1991 team. Just two games into the season, Brohm and the Cardinals were facing the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

, when Brohm suffered a fracture in his right ankle, placing him in a cast for six weeks.

1992 season

Brohm returned from his ankle injury to regain his starting quarterback role. In his first game back, Brohm was a two-point conversion away from knocking off #17 Ohio State as Brohm's pressured pass floated just past the arms of Ralph Dawkins. Brohm played well against #6

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, completing 66.6% of his passes and frustrating the Gators defense with his ability to scramble. The Cardinals ended up losing 31–17.

1993 season

Brohm returned for his senior season. After taking every snap as a junior, Brohm proved he was fully recovered from his ankle injury. After defeating San Jose State to begin the season, Brohm had a dominant performance against Memphis State, throwing for four touchdowns and 219 yards—175 yards and three touchdowns of which went to Aaron Bailey. The following week, Brohm threw for a career-high 331 yards defeating the #23 Arizona State 35–17. Brohm led the Cardinals to the #17 ranking. During the game against #24

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, Brohm threw for 270 yards. However, he had two very critical turnovers, including an interception with 3:02 to play. The Cardinals were upset by the Mountaineers 36–34. After a 7–1 start, the Cardinals accepted a bid to be the home team in the 1993 Liberty Bowl Brohm broke the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

of his passing hand in Louisville's final regular season game. His finger was repaired with a steel plate and pins, and he wasn't allowed to throw until the week before the bowl game. Trailing 7–3 going into the 4th quarter against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

in the Liberty Bowl, Brohm threw for two touchdowns in the final minute leading the Cardinals to an 18–7 victory.

College statistics

Professional career

Baseball

After Trinity High School, Brohm was drafted in the seventh round of the 1989 MLB Draft by the

. He turned down the Expos offer, choosing instead to accept a scholarship to play football for the

. However, after one year of college football, he had a change of heart and decided to pursue both sports, playing minor league baseball during his college summers. He held a workout for all MLB teams prior to the 1990 MLB draft and was selected by the

in the 4th round, and chose to play baseball and football. He played for two summers in the minor leagues before quitting to focus on football. The Indians also pushed him to drop football entirely.

Career statistics

Football

San Diego Chargers

After going undrafted in the

, Brohm signed with the

in 1994 as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Brohm beat out Trent Green to become the team's third-string quarterback. Brohm spent the season as the third-string quarterback never appearing in a game as the Chargers lost

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

Washington Redskins

Brohm signed with the

for the 1995 season.

San Francisco 49ers

Brohm signed with the

in 1996. Brohm played in the season opener for the 49ers in 1997 after Steve Young was sacked seven times and left the game with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

. Brohm was in line to start Week 2 for the 49ers, but he cracked a bone near the base of his middle finger on his passing hand. Brohm didn't make a start, instead Jim Druckenmiller made the start for the 49ers.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Brohm signed with the

in 1998, competing with Steve Walsh and

Scott Milanovich Scott Stewart Milanovich (born January 25, 1973) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the head coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also the head coach of the Toront ...

for the backup quarterback position behind Trent Dilfer. After just three plays in the Buccaneers first preseason game, Brohm scrambled and slid to avoid being hit, but on the slide Brohm tore a

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

in his right thumb. Brohm had to decide between wearing a cast for 4 weeks hoping his thumb would heal, or have surgery and heal the thumb properly, but ending his season. Brohm elected to have surgery on his thumb, where a pin was placed in his thumb during his August 10 surgery. Two weeks later, Brohm was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

, ending his season. After the season, Brohm requested he be waived by the Buccaneers, and the team granted him his wish on April 25, 1999.

Denver Broncos

Brohm signed with the

in 1999. On August 16, 2000, Brohm was waived by the Broncos.

Cleveland Browns

On December 13, 2000, Brohm was signed by the

to be the emergency third-string quarterback with one week remaining in the season.

Orlando Rage

On October 28, 2000, Brohm was drafted with the fourth overall pick in the XFL Draft by the

of the XFL. Brohm briefly left the Rage when he signed with the Browns. Brohm battled with Brian Kuklick for the starting quarterback position with the Rage. Brohm won the starting job, and led the Rage to a season opening win 33–29 over the Chicago Enforcers. During the 2001 XFL season, he owned the league's highest QB rating at 99.9 and was named first-team All-XFL. He was at the receiving end of a particularly brutal attempted sack by Shante Carver in the Week 5 contest against the

Memphis Maniax The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL (2001), XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home gam ...

; although it knocked Brohm out of the game and led to a hospital visit, the actual play resulted in a touchdown pass, and Brohm was back on the sidelines in a neck brace later in the game. When Brohm returned to play the next week, he gave a memorable speech when asked why he returned to play so soon:

Let me answer that question by asking you two questions – One, is this or is this not the XFL? Yes, it is. Two, do I or do I not currently have a pulse? Yes, I do. Let's play football.

Brohm later admitted fearing that the statement would make him an even greater target for the Rage's opponents. A shoulder injury in the Week 7 contest against the

Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the original version of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major ...

ended Brohm's playing career. Brohm was, along with Las Vegas Outlaws running back Rod Smart, one of the few players to openly embrace the XFL's approach to football, fully immersing himself in the

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

and

sports entertainment Sports entertainment is a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competition, competitive event using a high level of theatre, theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertainment, entertaining an audience. Un ...

. Brohm had hoped to put the nickname "J Bro" on the back of his jersey, but his fellow players voted not to use jersey nicknames.

Career passing stats

;NFL ;XFL

Coaching career

Louisville Fire

On December 19, 2001, Brohm was named the head coach of the Louisville Fire

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

team. The Fire started the 0–7 before they defeated the Carolina Rhinos 31–28 to improve to 1–7. The Fire finished the season 2–14.

Louisville

On December 24, 2002, Bobby Petrino hired Brohm to return to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

as quarterbacks coach. Brohm worked with first-year starting quarterback Stefan LeFors, helping him to a 3,145-yard passing season, the third-best in school history. LeFors finished first in the nation in passing efficiency and completion percentage and was named First-team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

. During Brohm's second season, he helped recruit his brother Brian Brohm, who was one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation. LeFors and Brian split time at quarterback, similar to how Jeff split time as a freshman with Nagle. LeFors and Brohm led the Cardinals to the 2004 Liberty Bowl and a No. 6 ranking to end the season. Brian finished the season as the Conference USA Freshman of the Year, and LeFors was named First-team All-Conference USA and the Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Year. In 2005, Brian took over the starting role permanently, leading the Cardinals to an 8–2 regular season and a berth in the 2006 Gator Bowl. Brian tore his ACL, forcing the Cardinals to start walk-on Hunter Cantwell. Cantwell completed 15 of his 37 passes for 216 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.

2006

In 2006, Brian Brohm led the Cardinals to a victory over No. 15 Miami (FL), but he injured his thumb in the process, forcing Cantwell into action. Cantwell led the team to victories over Kansas State and

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...

, with Cantwell throwing for a career-high 340 yards against Middle Tennessee, before Brian's return. The Cardinals finished the 2006 season, 12–1, establishing a record high victories for the school in a single season and winning the 2007 Orange Bowl.

2007

After Petrino left Louisville to take the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

head coaching job, new Cardinals head coach Steve Kragthorpe kept Brohm on his staff as an assistant head coach and passing game coordinator. Brohm declined an offer to join

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

's staff at

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 2007 to stay with Louisville. The Cardinals offense went in a different direction under the coaching change. Brian threw 473 times, which was second in school history for a single season, but he broke the then record for passing touchdowns in a single season with 30.

2008

He was promoted to

for the 2008 season. Cantwell in his first season as the starting quarterback threw 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and averaged 207.8 passing yards a game. The Cardinals went 5–7 without bowl play for two consecutive years. The Cardinals offense averaged 377 yards a game, ranking 45th overall.

Florida Atlantic

Brohm joined his former college head coach Howard Schnellenberger at Florida Atlantic for the 2009 season as the quarterback coach. Brohm later revealed that he had been in contact with Schnellenberger for a month prior to the hiring. Brohm inherited Rusty Smith, who had won the 2007

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

Offensive Player of the Year, to coach. After just 7 games, Smith had 1,915 yards passing to go along with 14 passing touchdowns and just 5 interceptions, but he sprained his non-throwing shoulder in the 7th game against

, ending his career. With the injury, Brohm worked with Jeff Van Camp to replace Smith. Van Camp finished the year 1,372 yards passing and 12 touchdowns with just two interceptions and a win in the Shula Bowl.

Illinois

He then took a position coaching quarterbacks on Ron Zook's staff at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The move to Illinois reunited Brohm with Paul Petrino, whom Brohm worked with at Louisville. Brohm and Petrino were tasked with replacing Juice Williams, and in spring camp Nathan Scheelhaase emerged as the leading candidate. The Illini named Scheelhaase the starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman, and he made strong progress throughout his first two starts. With Scheelhaase's running ability, Brohm made sure that he taught him to keep running throughout his reads before deciding to run. Scheelhaase really began to start hitting his stride during a 44–10 defeat of

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, throwing for four touchdowns. The Illini finished the regular season 6–6, earning a berth in the 2010 Texas Bowl.

2011

In year two, Brohm worked to improve Scheelhaase's passing in accuracy, decisiveness and drop backs. Scheelhaase got the Illini off to a hot start going 6–0, even defeating #22 Arizona State and Brohm had acknowledged his development as a passer. The Illini would finish the regular season 0–6, costing Zook his job. Brohm was promoted to interim offensive coordinator during the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.

UAB

In 2012, new head coach Garrick McGee hired Brohm to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UAB. In an interview prior to the 2012 season, Brohm said he regretted not accepting the position of offensive coordinator with Alabama. The offseason began with redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Brown pushing Jonathan Perry for the starting role. After an 0–3 start, Brohm named Brown the new starting quarterback. In four of his first five starts, Brown threw for 300 yards. The Blazers finished the season 3–9, with the offense finishing 53rd in the country with 417 yards per game.

Western Kentucky

2013 season

After a single season at UAB, Brohm decided to take a pay cut and take the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator position at

, where he was again coaching under Bobby Petrino. Brohm had to replace Kawaun Jakes, who was the career leader in passing touchdowns and third in passing yards for the Hilltoppers. They selected Brandon Doughty to be the starter during the 2013 season, and was aided by the return of the NCAA single season all-purpose yards record holder, Antonio Andrews. The Hilltoppers began the season with an upset of SEC foe

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Brohm's lone season as offensive coordinator did not disappoint, as the Hilltoppers averaged 459 yards per game, and both Doughty and Andrews set the single season record for yards in a season in passing and rushing respectively.

2014 season

On January 8, 2014, Petrino was hired to his former position of head coach at Louisville in place of Charlie Strong, who moved to replace

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

at Texas. Brohm was named as a candidate to become head coach later that same day. On January 10, 2014, Brohm was officially named the head coach of the Hilltoppers. On August 29, 2014, his Hilltoppers opened the season with a 59–31 win over the Bowling Green Falcons, scoring more points than during any game in the 2013 season. The team broke school records for total yards in a game (702) and most points scored since moving to the FBS level. Doughty also set three individual records. The following week Brohm suffered his first defeat as a head coach, losing 42–34 to Illinois. After losing 5 out of his first 8 games as a head coach (four of which were by a single possession), the Hilltoppers rallied to win their last four regular season games. This included a win over undefeated #19

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

67–66 in overtime, again breaking the school record for points in an FBS game for the third time of the season. The Hilltoppers 7–5 regular season earned them a berth in the 2014 Bahamas Bowl where they played Central Michigan Chippewas. Leading 49–14 heading into the fourth quarter, the Chippewas rallied to be down 1-point, but their failed two-point conversion with no time left led to a Hilltoppers victory.

2015 season

Brohm made it clear that he wanted to build the Hilltoppers program by recruiting players from Kentucky. Brohm brought in thirteen players from the state of Kentucky in first full recruiting class. On September 3, 2015, Brohm won his first game as head coach against an SEC opponent, a 14–12 road win against Vanderbilt. On September 12, Western Kentucky won, 41–38, against Louisiana Tech, giving Brohm his tenth win as Western Kentucky's head coach. On September 19, Brohm and the Hilltoppers lost their first game of the season, 35–38, against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The Hilltoppers then won four straight games before traveling to

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

to face #5 LSU, where they were defeated 48–20. The Hilltoppers won four straight again to finish the regular season 10–2 (8–0), winning the East Division of

. On December 5, Brohm led Western Kentucky to a 45–25 victory over Southern Miss in the 2015 Conference USA Football Championship Game, giving Western Kentucky their first ever Conference USA championship in school history. The win moved Western Kentucky into #25 in the A.P. Top 25. This was Western Kentucky's first appearance in the AP Top 25 since moving up to FBS. He finished his second season as the Hilltoppers' head coach with a 12–2 record, with losses against

and

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, and a victory in the 2015 Miami Beach Bowl over

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, 45–35. After trailing, 0–14, in the second quarter, Western Kentucky scored 24 unanswered points as they beat South Florida 24–14.

2016 season

On February 3, 2016, Brohm agreed to a contract extension with Western Kentucky. The deal kept him under contract through the 2019 season. After defeating

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

in the opening game of the 2016 season, Western Kentucky traveled to #1 Alabama. It was the first time Western Kentucky had played a #1 ranked team since the 2012 season. Western Kentucky then cruised through its non-conference game against Miami (OH) before being defeated by Vanderbilt on the final play of the game. After a blowout victory over FCS Houston Baptist, Western Kentucky was defeated by Louisiana Tech. This was Western Kentucky's first conference lost since 2014, which also came at the hands of Louisiana Tech. In week seven, the Hilltoppers narrowly defeated Middle Tennessee 44–43 in double overtime, and the first winning streak over Middle Tennessee since 1980. The Hilltoppers then won their next five games by a minimum of 28 points, once again winning the East Division advancing to the 2016 Conference USA Football Championship Game. The Conference USA Championship Game was a highly anticipated re-match against Louisiana Tech. In a game that went on to be the highest scoring FBS conference championship game to date, Western Kentucky finally defeated Skip Holtz's Bulldogs 58–44. On December 4, 2016, Western Kentucky accepted a bid to the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl. They defeated Memphis 51–31.

Purdue

2017 season

On December 5, 2016, Brohm was hired by

to be the head coach of the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

. Brohm went to work right away on recruiting primarily the offensive and defensive lines as well as wide receiver bringing in five graduate transfers to help get instant depth, including two offensive linemen and a wide receiver. In his first ever game as head coach, Purdue was defeated by #16 Louisville 35–28 in a close game played at

Lucas Oil Stadium Lucas Oil Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Indianapolis, downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It replaced the RCA Dome as the home field of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). It opened on August ...

. The next week Brohm achieved his first win at Purdue with a 44–21 victory over

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and followed that with a blowout win (35–3) at

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Purdue hosted #8 Michigan the next week in a game that many Purdue fans saw as the turnaround they had been waiting for since Tiller, despite losing 28–10. The game saw a sold out Ross Ade Stadium, its first sell out since 2008 in Joe Tiller's final game as the Purdue head coach. Heading into week 8, Jeff Brohm and his team went into High Point Solutions Stadium to face

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

as they looked to improve 4–3 on the season, but fell short on a two-point conversion, losing the game 12–14. However, Purdue won the 4th game of the season against Lovie Smith's

team. This was the first time Purdue had won 4 games in one season since Danny Hope's final season at Purdue. In week 13, Purdue went into

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and won their biggest game of the season with a 24–15 win over the Hawkeyes, and Purdue followed it up with the high point of the season taking the Old Oaken Bucket in a win against

31–24. Not only was it a rivalry game, but both teams were 5–6, meaning the winner would become bowl eligible. Purdue's win was the first for the program against their hated rivals since 2012. The six wins was enough to get Purdue into the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl, where they would face

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. The bowl game made Brohm only the second head coach in Purdue history, along with Joe Tiller, to take Purdue to a bowl game in their first season as head coach. Before the bowl game, there was much speculation surrounding Jeff Brohm around the head coaching vacancy at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, some sources even saying that he had accepted the job. However, the two sides never met, killing the speculations after a few hours. Purdue headed into the Foster Farms Bowl game as slight underdogs, but went on to beating the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

38–35, thanks in help to an Elijah Sindelar touchdown pass in the closing minutes of the game.

2018 season

On April 26, 2018, Brohm agreed to a contract extension with Purdue. The deal runs through the 2024 season. In the opening game of the season, which was also the home and conference opener, the Boilermakers were defeated by Northwestern 27–31. In their name game, the Boilermakers were defeated on a last second field goal by

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

19–20. In their next game

, the Boilermakers fell 37–40, with David Blough setting a program record with 572 yards passing. On homecoming, the Boilermakers then defeated #23 Boston College 30–13. The following week, Purdue beat

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

42–28. After the bye week, Purdue then went to Champaign and defeated

46–7 for its 3rd consecutive victory over the Fighting Illini. The following week, the Boilermakers defeated #2 Ohio State 49–20. In their 5th conference game, Purdue was defeated by

13–23. The following week, Purdue returned home to take on #19 Iowa. The Boilermakers beat the Hawkeyes 38–36. The Boilermakers then got beat by

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

10–41. The Boilermakers then were defeated by

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

44–47 in three overtimes. In the Old Oaken Bucket, Purdue on consecutive games against

for the first time since 2012, defeating the Hoosiers 28–21. The win secured Purdue's 2nd consecutive bowl game since the 2012 season. Following the season, Purdue was selected for the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...

. In the bowl game against Auburn, Brohm suffered his worst loss at Purdue, losing 14–63. Brohm fell to 1–1 in Bowl Games at Purdue. The Boilermakers finished the season 6–7.

2019 season

In their opening game, Purdue was defeated by

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

31–34. In the home opener, the Purdue rolled Vanderbilt 42–24. In their final non-conference game, Purdue hosted TCU 13–34. Following the bye week, Purdue was then defeated by

31–38. Purdue then traveled to University Park, where they were defeated by #12 Penn State 7–35. Purdue then returned home for homecoming and defeated

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

40–14. In the next game, the Boilermakers had a loss to #23 Iowa 20–26. In the battle for the Purdue Cannon, Purdue got its 1st loss to

in 4 years, 6–24, securing Brohm's first season without a bowl game. In its second consecutive home game, Purdue took on

. Purdue handed Nebraska another loss, 31–27. The next week, Purdue defeated Northwestern 24–22. After a second bye week, the Boilermakers were dominated bye #12 Wisconsin 24–42. In the Old Oaken Bucket, Brohm suffered his first loss to rival

41–44. The Boilermakers finished the season 4–8.

2020 season

In his 4th season, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

, Purdue's season was cut to an all conference, eight-game season beginning on October 24. On October 19, 2020, Brohm tested positive for COVID-19. In the season opener, Purdue opened at home and defeated

24–20, with offensive coordinator and younger brother Brian Brohm leading the team as acting head coach. On October 26, Brohm returned a positive COVID-19 test. In the first road game, Brohm was back on the sideline, Purdue defeated

31–24. The following week Brohm was scheduled to take on

, but the game was canceled due to a high number of Badger players testing positive for the COVID-19 virus. The next week, the Boilermakers were beaten by #23 Northwestern 20–27. The Boilermakers then travelled to

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

where they were defeated by

. The next week, Purdue was beaten by

30–37. Purdue finished the regular season after being defeated by

27–37. The following week, Purdue was scheduled to play

, but Purdue and Indiana announced a mutual one-time cancellation of the Old Oaken Bucket game scheduled for December 12 after team-related activities were paused because of an elevated number of coronavirus cases within both the Boilermakers' and Hoosiers' programs. On December 13, Purdue and Indiana came to a mutual agreement to reschedule the Old Oaken Bucket game for one week later, on December 18; however, on December 15, both teams again mutually agreed to cancel the Friday contest, due to issues remaining on both teams with COVID complications.

2021 season

In the home opener, Purdue defeated Oregon State 30–21 in their first meeting since the 1967 season. In the first road game, the Boilermakers shutout UConn 49–0. The following week, Purdue traveled to Notre Dame to take on #12 Notre Dame. The Boilermakers were defeated 13–27. In the conference opener, The Boilermakers won a close game 13–9 over

. The next week at homecoming, Purdue was defeated by

13–20. Following the bye week, Purdue then took on #2 Iowa winning 24–7. Following the defeat of #2 Iowa, Purdue was ranked #25 in the AP Poll. It was the first time Purdue had been ranked in the AP Poll since 2007. Purdue then returned home to play

. The Boilermakers fell 13–30. The next week, Purdue bounced back defeating

28–23. Purdue then returned home, defeating #3 Michigan State 40–29. Purdue then traveled to Columbus, where they were blown out by #4 Ohio State 31–59. Purdue wrapped up its road games against Northwestern winning 32–14, in a game played at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. On Senior day, Purdue won in a blowout, 44–7 over

in the Old Oaken Bucket game. The win secured Brohm his 1st winning regular season at Purdue. The win also gave him his 2nd season over .500 at Purdue. The Boilermakers finished the regular season 8–4. Purdue received a bid to play against

in the

. The Boilermakers won a 48–45 overtime thriller to capture Purdue's first 9-win season since 2003.

2022 season

In the home opener, Purdue was defeated by

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, 31–35. The following week, Purdue shutout Indiana State 56–0. Following the shutout win, Purdue traveled to Syracuse to take on the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East ...

, where they lost 29–32. The next week was homecoming week, where Purdue delivered a 28–26 win over Florida Atlantic. The next week, Purdue took on #21

, where they won 20–10. The Boilermakers then traveled to

, where they pulled out a 31–29 win. Purdue returned home the next week to face

, where they won 43–37 in a high-scoring shootout. Purdue then traveled to

, where they lost 24–35. Following the loss to the Badgers, Purdue returned home to play

, and lost 3–24. Purdue bounced back the next week at #21

, defeating the Illini 31–24. Purdue returned home to West Lafayette the next weekend, where they beat Northwestern 17–9. Following Iowa's loss to Nebraska on November 25, Purdue had an opportunity to clinch the Big Ten West by beating Indiana. The Boilermakers were up to the task, routing the Hoosiers 30–16 in front of a sellout crowd. Following the victory, Purdue was Big Ten West Champions for the first time in school history and earned the right to face undefeated #2

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

at the Big Ten Championship Game in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Purdue then went on to play LSU in a bowl game where they would ultimately lose. Purdue finished the regular season 8–4, with 2021–2022 as the first back-to-back 8–4 seasons or better since

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

–

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Louisville

On December 7, 2022, Brohm resigned from Purdue and was hired to be the head football coach at

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Personal life

Brohm's younger brother,

, is a football coach and a former quarterback who last played for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

. Another brother, Greg, played wide receiver at Louisville and had a stint in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

at the Edmonton Eskimos camp before being cut. Their sister, Kim, was a three-sport athlete at Spalding University. She played softball, volleyball, and basketball for the Pelicans (now the Golden Eagles). Brohm married the former Jennifer L. Hawkins in 2003. They have two children, Brady and Brooke. After Brohm turned down an offer to become Louisville head coach in November 2018 to remain at Purdue, then-

Yahoo Sports Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from Stats Perform. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. ...

journalist

Pat Forde Pat Forde is a sports journalist who is a national columnist for ''Sports Illustrated''. He previously worked for ESPN, ''The Courier-Journal'' in Louisville, Kentucky, and '' Yahoo Sports''. Personal life and education Forde is a native of C ...

, a long-time Louisville resident, had the following to say about him:

In a profession where coaches come and go and commitment is for suckers, Brohm is wired differently. Maybe that's why, as a 47-year-old millionaire, he still drives that now-famous 2004 Honda Accord to the office. Insincerity isn't part of his makeup.

Head coaching record

AF2

College

References

External links

Purdue Boilermakers bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brohm, Jeff 1971 births Living people American football quarterbacks Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Florida Atlantic Owls football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Louisville Cardinals football coaches Louisville Cardinals football players Louisville Fire coaches Orlando Rage players Purdue Boilermakers football coaches San Diego Chargers players San Francisco 49ers players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players UAB Blazers football coaches Washington Redskins players Watertown Indians players Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Trinity High School (Louisville) alumni Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Coaches of American football from Kentucky