From Tom Fornelli at CBS:
"When the news broke Sunday morning that Louisville coach Bobby Petrino had been fired, there were two very different reactions. In Louisville, there was mostly relief. Roughly 180 miles north on I-65, however, there was fear -- fear that the man who just showed up to West Lafayette, Indiana, last year and had immediately revived a moribund program would soon be on his way out of town.
Jeff Brohm is the obvious choice for Louisville. He had been since before Louisville fired Petrino. Brohm, the Louisville native, the Louisville alum, and the former Louisville assistant, will be new athletic director Vince Tyra's first choice to replace Petrino. He'll likely be the second and third choice as well. It's an idea that makes too much sense, like when former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh returned to the Wolverines, or when former Nebraska quarterback Scott Frost returned to the Cornhuskers.
Brohm returning to Louisville seems like fate, and in some eyes, an inevitability. But it might not be as simple or straightforward as it looks.
To describe the last few years in Louisville's athletic department as tumultuous would be accurate, but also a bit of an understatement. Rick Pitino, who won an NCAA title and went to three Final Fours, was fired amidst an NCAA scandal. Former athletic director Tom Jurich, who helped take Louisville from Conference USA to the ACC and helped create one of the strongest athletic departments in the country, soon followed. Then there was the school disassociating itself from a longtime booster and trustee "Papa" John Schnatter. Petrino's dismissal is the final step in completely overhauling the department, and Brohm -- along with new basketball coach Chris Mack -- will be seen as the coach to lead it into a new era.
But it won't be a cheap era. Louisville didn't just fire Petrino, it bought him out for $14 million. That is not an insignificant amount of money, and that price is one reason why some at the school bristled at the idea of firing him in the first place. Jurich received $4.5 million when he was bought out. The school has also spent money to renovate Cardinal Stadium. Now, after spending all that money to create the job opening, Louisville will have to pay more to get Brohm.
Brohm is currently making $3.8 million a year at Purdue, according to USA Today. That's slightly less than what Petrino had been making, so we know Louisville is willing to spend that kind of money on its football coach. The problem is that if Louisville wants to but Brohm out of his current deal, it would cost them an additional $4.4 million to do so before Dec. 5, 2018. The good news is that number drops to $3.3 million on Dec. 6, but even at the "discount," if Brohm signs a five-year deal worth roughly $4 million per year (which would be a family discount), the act of going from Petrino to Brohm will leave Louisville with a $37.3 million bill. And that doesn't even include the money for Brohm's assistants and money that must be paid to settle a loan as part of Brohm's contract.
That's a lot to spend for a school that's already spent a lot of money.
Still, you have to think it's a cost Louisville is willing to pay. No offense to other possible candidates out there, but I have a hard time believing the school decided to pay Petrino $14 million to go away so it could settle for Plan B or Plan C. That's just the price of doing business in amateur athletics these days."
