I'll begin by saying that I am obviously a UK fan, and I have no intention of coming to your board and trash talking about records or even the game this Saturday. Even though I'm a UK fan, I understand that the rivalry is better when two quality teams meet up in November every year, not one. I actually hope UofL makes a good hire and turns my post Thanksgiving football weekend into something memorable every year. The rivalry during the Joker years was, well, a joke. An era of Joker-type football in Louisville would be just as depressing, in its own way.
I understand the the near consensus on your board is luring Brohm away from Purdue and rekindling the magic of Petrino 1.0, which makes sense because there is much to like about Brohm. He seems to be an electric recruiter, a innovative offensive mind, and an energetic leader. Indeed, there are plenty of reasons that Brohm could be the long-term answer to Louisville's football needs. I could see him taking the job and being very successful for two decades, or at least until the NFL comes calling.
However, I can also see some potential pitfalls to hiring Brohm that are simmering just beneath the glossy veneer.
In the then end, it all comes down to what the UofL athletic department values in the next coach. If he wants to put buts in the seats (which is a real concern), the sexy pick is Brohm. He would bring instant energy to the program and be a slam dunk with Cardinal faithful. There is risk to that pick, though, and Tyra would be a fool to not at least consider those risks. There is also the not-so-latent desire to cut ties with the previous regime. Brohm might be a savior to fans, but he could be perceived as a nod to the Jurich days.
Perhaps they will go a safer route and pick a steady hand at the wheel, someone that's completed a rebuild process somewhere else. Is the next UofL coach a red and white version of Rich Brooks? Who knows? What's for certain is that this is going to be one of the more interesting hires by any program in the last decade or so, and the man that eventually stands behind that podium at the press conference will have the hopes (and fears) of a program squarely on his shoulders.
I understand the the near consensus on your board is luring Brohm away from Purdue and rekindling the magic of Petrino 1.0, which makes sense because there is much to like about Brohm. He seems to be an electric recruiter, a innovative offensive mind, and an energetic leader. Indeed, there are plenty of reasons that Brohm could be the long-term answer to Louisville's football needs. I could see him taking the job and being very successful for two decades, or at least until the NFL comes calling.
However, I can also see some potential pitfalls to hiring Brohm that are simmering just beneath the glossy veneer.
- Finishing What You Started: In hiring Brohm, UofL would be taking a flyer on someone who has, in two stops, done an excellent job of beginning the rebuild process but has never finished the rebuild process. To this point, Brohm has never stayed anywhere long enough to fully capitalize on his early stage successes. He could be the whole package: recruiter, in-game game coach, leader, whole-program designer. But, he could also be a guy that makes a career of leapfrogging to better and better jobs based on perceived potential for results--not actual results. Such guys (think Butch Jones) often talk their way into big money and fail to get results.
- The Fallacy of Coaching Trees: Beware hiring coaches that were coordinators under a successful coach, especially when they both had the same focus area. Hiring a offensive coordinator from a successful team with an offensive minded head coach can be a roll of the dice. For every Dan Mullen there are five Chuck Amatos. The problem is that we often give young coordinators credit for what their boss is actually doing. Brohm had great success as an assistant at UofL, when Petrino (1.0) was calling the shots. When Petrino left Brohm was promoted to Offensive coordinator. The result? Two less than stellar seasons. Now, one could argue that Kragthorpe was a bad hire, but Kragthorpe did hand the offense to Brohm only to watch it sputter. Was that sputtering an anomaly or a red flag? Time will tell.
- You Can Never Go Home Again: College football is littered with the husk of once promising careers ruined by coaches that attempted to "go home". Randy Shannon at Miami, Dave Wannstedt at Pitt, Ray Goff at Georgia, and of course there was the Joker Phillips debacle at UK. In most of these "terrible alumni hire" situations, there were multiple red flags that should have warned these programs that their former player, beloved as he is, was not ready to take over as the head man. Those red flags disappeared in the haze of gauzy nostalgia. There have been some great Alumni hires; perhaps Brohm is more Kirby Smart than Ray Goff. The possibility exist, though, that UofL could make this hire out of a toxic mix of desperation, nostalgia, and wishful thinking.
In the then end, it all comes down to what the UofL athletic department values in the next coach. If he wants to put buts in the seats (which is a real concern), the sexy pick is Brohm. He would bring instant energy to the program and be a slam dunk with Cardinal faithful. There is risk to that pick, though, and Tyra would be a fool to not at least consider those risks. There is also the not-so-latent desire to cut ties with the previous regime. Brohm might be a savior to fans, but he could be perceived as a nod to the Jurich days.
Perhaps they will go a safer route and pick a steady hand at the wheel, someone that's completed a rebuild process somewhere else. Is the next UofL coach a red and white version of Rich Brooks? Who knows? What's for certain is that this is going to be one of the more interesting hires by any program in the last decade or so, and the man that eventually stands behind that podium at the press conference will have the hopes (and fears) of a program squarely on his shoulders.
