Tennessee coaching search now focused on Jeff Brohm, per multiple reports

Less than 24 hours after Tennessee missed on landing Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, the Vols’ coaching search turns to Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm. On Wednesday morning, Football Scoopreported Tennessee is centering its efforts on him. ESPN’s Chris Low reported Brohm “has had discussions with Tennessee officials.”

Source: Tennessee is closing in a deal with Purdue coach Jeff Brohm. UT interviewed Chad Morris of SMU last night but apparently UT favors Brohm.
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) November 29, 2017

Brohm has experience coaching in the area. The former Louisville assistant’s first head coaching gig was at Western Kentucky, where he led the Hilltoppers to three straight bowl wins, and he compiled a 30-10 record there.

Brohm is known for his high-powered offenses, evident at times in Year 1 at Purdue and during his last season at WKU:

The 2016 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers that former XFL QB Brohm coached put up some jaw-dropping numbers on offense. Despite not having highly rated talent, even for Conference USA, they went 11-3 overall and 7-1 in their conference, thanks largely to an offense that ranked 14th in S&P+ and No. 1 in scoring (45.5 points per game).
First-year starting QB Mike White threw 416 passes for 4,363 yards (at 10.49 yards per attempt), with 37 TDs and seven interceptions. Lead Hilltoppers RB Anthony Wales got 237 carries that produced 1,621 yards at 6.8 yards per carry, with 27 TDs. The WR corps included two going over 1,000 yards, with Taywan Taylor and Nicholas Norris combining for over 3,000 yards and 31 touchdown catches between them.
It was a balanced, up-tempo, explosive offense that blew away every defense on the schedule, save for one scrappy unit at the University of Alabama.
The offense comes from the school of Bobby Petrino, a former boss of Brohm’s. Every play features layers of misdirection and options, real or decoy, that divide the attention and the leverage of the defense before hitting the weak spots.

Before his WKU stint, Brohm coached on the offensive staffs at UAB, Florida Atlantic, and Louisville. Brohm is also financially available, especially if Tennessee wants to wait a week. According to the Journal & Courier, Brohm’s buyout is reduced from $5 million to $4 million if he leaves after Dec. 5.

Here’s Tennessee blog Rocky Top Talk’s take:

We’ve kind of come full circle here on Brohm. He was the hot name when Butch Jones was starting to crumble, but Purdue cooled off mid-season. Brohm finished 6-6, which is a pretty big success considering the fact that Purdue won just three games in 2016. The turnaround is underway, but are you comfortable hiring a guy without seeing a finished product? Remember, this was a guy that followed Bobby Petrino and Willie Taggart at Western Kentucky.

After seven years playing for NFL teams, he was picked up by the Orlando Rage. It was there in 2001 where an interview of him went viral:

The video that stalks Jeff Brohm everywhere he goes was shot moments before an XFL game in 2001, that league’s lone year of existence. Brohm was the quarterback for the Orlando Rage, an NFL vet looking to keep playing after a seven-year stint in the NFL.
Brohm had taken a brutal hit to the head in his last game, and he was sick, and he was giving a sideline interview moments before he was to start for the Rage anyway. Asked how he was playing six days after that headshot, Brohm asked rhetorically if he had a pulse and deadpanned, “Yes, I do. Let’s play football,” and walked away. The crowd went wild:

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When Brohm took the job at Purdue last December, after three years and a 30-10 record leading Western Kentucky, the Boilermakers’ marketing team circulated a #LetsPlayFootball hashtag.

Low adds that it is also considering Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and SMU head coach Chad Morris.

Am told #Tennessee AD John Currie's intrigued with Mike Leach but the WAZZU coach having sued his old employer is a tough one for him & the #Vols to get past.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 29, 2017