Jeff Brohm on Louisville Coaching Rumors: Purdue Is Where I Want to Be

Jeff Brohm led Purdue to a 28-21 win over Indiana on Saturday, moving the Boilermakers to 6-6 on the season and earning bowl eligibility. After the contest, Brohm addressed the rumors linking him to the coaching vacancy at Louisville.

"I want Louisville to do what's best for them," he said, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com. "I'm a fan. But right now, I'm the coach at Purdue. This is where I want to be and I like it here."

Brohm added that any rumors connecting him to Louisville were "pure speculation."

As Rittenberg noted, Brohm has "been mentioned as Louisville's top choice" for head coach in the wake of Bobby Petrino's firing on November 11. Tim Sullivan of the Louisville Courier Journal called Brohm the "odds-on, people's-choice, favorite-son candidate" to fill Louisville's vacancy.

But Brohm's comments on Saturday, combined with a report from Dan Wolken of USA Today, suggest that perhaps the Purdue head coach isn't going anywhere:

"In fact, the feeling within the industry as Brohm’s Purdue team kicked off against Indiana was that the more likely outcome was that he would stay put with a big new contract extension rather than go home to Louisville, which has been skittish about giving out the kind of large, fully guaranteed contract it would require to lure Brohm from the Big Ten."

And Louisville's search isn't exclusive to Brohm, either.

"Without tipping my hand too much, we've got a handful on my shortlist that we have interest in," Cardinals athletic director Vince Tyra said Wednesday, per Sullivan. "I think we've got five to six that I would consider my shortlist. As we get through the week, we'll better know what that number is."

Wolken added that Troy head coach Neal Brown, Syracuse's Dino Babers and Memphis head coach Mike Norvell were believed to be on that shortlist.

Brohm, 47, is now 13-12 in his two seasons at Purdue, with a bowl win to his name last year and a major upset over Ohio State in 2018. He was excellent in his prior gig at Western Kentucky, leading the team to a 30-10 record in three seasons with the Hilltoppers and winning bowl games in each campaign.

His links to Louisville run deep, however. He grew up in the area, went to college at Louisville and served as an assistant coach for the program from 2003-08. There's a reason his name keeps coming up when the school's vacancy is discussed.

But for now, Brohm is maintaining that he isn't leaving Purdue.