Louisville football: That’s head coach Brian Brohm to you

Former Louisville football great to take over head coaching duties…for the week.

Though he’s wearing a different set of colors and coaching for a team that isn’t the Louisville football program, rooting for Brian Brohm is still something most Cardinal fans do.

After spending four legendary seasons at Louisville, where he passed for 10,775 yards and 71 touchdowns while becoming one of the most winningest players in program history, the younger Brohm brother stepped into a career of coaching.

Rooting for anyone outside of Louisville isn’t something we normally do, but when one of the best quarterbacks in program history joins his brother— another former Cardinal great—on a coaching staff it’s hard not to wish them success (as long as they aren’t playing Louisville).

So, when Brian joined his older brother Jeff, as the quarterback’s coach at Western Kentucky, most Louisville fans cheered them on.

Brian has remained on Jeff’s staff every season since joining him back in 2016, making the move to Purdue in 2017 as the quarterbacks’ coach before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator.

Cheering for the Brohm’s became much less trendy as fans quickly turned on the elder brother when he spurned his hometown program to stay with Purdue in 2018. Given the fallout after that decision, disdain has been pointed in the direction of Jeff, despite the Cards landing the better candidate.

Much to the delight of many Louisville fans, Purdue took a step back in 2019, going 4-8 overall and missing the postseason for the first time since the Brohm’s arrived.

2020 looked like a wash as the Big Ten officially announced to cancel their fall season back in August, which led to the opt-out of star wide receiver and Louisville native, Rondale Moore. 

Since, the Big Ten has reversed course and decided to play a season while Moore has officially opted back in, giving the Boilermakers and Brian’s offense a huge advantage.

However, as Purdue prepares for their season opener against Iowa, it was announced that Jeff Brohm became another name on the growing list of coaches who have been confirmed to have COVID-19, likely ending any chance of him being on the sidelines week one.

With Brohm out, it was announced that Brian will step in to take his place this week against Iowa.

Regardless of your feelings towards Purdue and Jeff Brohm, no one likes seeing a coach (or anyone for that matter) test positive for COVID, especially with the season getting ready to kick off.

However, it is going to be a lot of fun to watch how Purdue looks under the leadership of one of Louisville’s all-time great players.

The Brohm’s are a football family through-and-through, so there is no doubt that Brian will be ready to lead a talented Purdue squad into battle against Iowa, even if it is his first time acting as a head coach.