Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm’s tenure at his alma mater will depend on whether he can get things done at home.
Shortly after the Cardinals defeated Toledo 27-22 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday, Brohm was questioned about the coaching vacancy at Michigan State, one of the most coveted coaching jobs in all of college football.
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He gave the canned answer a coach usually gives when faced with an opening. Say firmly that he loves his current job. said he would not discuss hypothetical situations. while leaving wiggle room in case he decided to leave town.
For much of this century, up-and-coming coaches from Louisville would cause greater consternation among fans when faced with the possibility of leaving.
The fact that Brohm comes from the city’s first football family and doesn’t aggressively pursue every opportunity for upward mobility keeps his anxiety levels low. But that doesn’t mean he’ll never leave.
The length of Brohm’s tenure will ultimately come down to whether he believes London can compete at the highest level of college football. He could have found out this season. It may take another season or several before he makes a decision.
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In this day and age, competition is measured in dollar amounts: how much money can be raised to collectively support a program’s name, image and likeness, and how much money is taken from the university’s revenue-sharing pool specifically for the football program.
For example, Ohio State’s football roster has exceeded $20 million, which is far beyond what people think. London doesn’t have that deep pockets, and I’m sure Brohm doesn’t want the Cards to start competing against programs like the Buckeyes, Texas and Alabama.
Some coaches who win at these most expensive programs simply do so because they acquire enough talent to not let them fail. Most coaches, like Brohm, lead programs that don’t have enough depth to coach in this way.
UCL just needs to keep Brohm in a competitive community close enough so coaching, talent identification and development can handle the rest.
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Brohm has proven he can move on from there.
In his first season, the Cards made their first ACC Championship appearance and defeated No. 10 Notre Dame in the regular season. Last season, they won on the road at No. 11 Clemson for the first time in series history. All four of their games were losses by the same score.
Looking back on this season, they were able to win against second-place Miami because UofL had a better game plan and execution. This game was bigger and better than the win over Notre Dame because it came on a road game that London had won just once, the last time the Cards went there under Brohm, and clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game.
The Hurricanes reportedly paid Georgia transfer Carson Baker more than $3 million to play this season. While these payments are not publicly recorded, rest assured that no one on Louisville’s roster is one of the highest-paid players in college football.
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The template for Brohm’s success at UCL is working, even though this season may have been disappointing at times. He might just need a little more support to help them get over the top.
Tuesday’s win means Brohm has won at least nine games in each of his three seasons at London. Only twice in franchise history has the Cards won nine or more games in three consecutive seasons.
During Bobby Petrino’s first tenure as head coach from 2003-06, the Cards posted four consecutive seasons with at least nine wins and an Orange Bowl victory in his final season.
That’s why Brohm’s name will continue to have significant openings. Schools like Michigan and before that Penn State figured that if he could consistently win at Louisville on a limited budget, imagine what he could do with virtually unlimited resources at those programs.
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As much as he loves Louisville, the heartstrings of his hometown can only be touched so many times before the tune is played. Whether Brohm stays or leaves will depend on the University of London’s financial commitment to competing in football.
Contact sports columnist CL Brown at: clbrown1@gannett.comfollow him on X @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest Make sure you never miss one of his columnss.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal: Jeff Brohm, Louisville football’s future will come down to this
