Before he was the head coach at Purdue, Jeff Brohm was a college quarterback at Louisville, later playing in the NFL and old XFL before turning to coaching.

It runs in the family, too: his father, Oscar, was a former Louisville signal-caller, as was his younger brother, Brian, before playing in the NFL and CFL.

Brohm, who is entering his 6th season as Boilermakers head coach, discussed the qualities needed to be a successful quarterback during an interview on Greg McElroy’s “Always College Football” podcast.

“Quarterback’s a unique position. A lot of times, it not only takes ability, but it takes courage, it takes poise, it takes being a great teammate,” he said. “I think if you have successful quarterback play, you’re gonna have a chance to win if you can get the other components to at least play at a moderate, reasonable level.”

He joked that he hated admitting that he and his brother Brian—the team’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach—still have “throwing contests” to see which brother has the better arm, along with the Boilermakers’ quarterbacks.

“The day before the game…we go out to the 20-yard line, we try to hit the crossbar, and for whatever reason, last year, I was by the winner,” he smiled. “Now, I (got) to throw first, and I probably (kept) my own stats.”