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Jeff Brohm on elevating Purdue: ‘I like the fact that a lot of people don’t think it can happen here’

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Jeff Brohm was advised not to take the job at Purdue in late 2016. Being a hot coach in the open market, many people around him told him to wait for something better.

Instead, Brohm opted to leave Western Kentucky for West Lafayette. And in two seasons with the Boilermakers, Brohm has led his team to a bowl appearance and two wins over top 25 teams, including Saturday’s 49-20 win over No. 2 Ohio State.

He’s probably loving that decision to sign on the dotted line now.

Following Purdue’s huge win over the Buckeyes, Brohm joined the Doug Gottlieb Show to talk about elevating the program to a new level. It’s a challenge the head coach enjoys.

“When I was at [Western Kentucky] and this opportunity came about, basically 90 percent of the people I asked about taking the job said ‘No, you don’t need to take this, you need to wait for something better and bigger,'” Brohm said. “The more I thought about it, in my opinion, I like the challenge at Purdue. I like the fact the have a ton of room to improve. I like the fact that we do have a lot of room to grow. And I like the fact that a lot of people don’t think it can happen. That’s something that I think drives me.”

Through one-and-a-half seasons with the Boilermakers, Brohm has won 11 games, two more than the program won during Darrell Hazell’s entire stretch in West Lafayette.

Brohm believes there’s still plenty of room for improvement, and is excited about the challenge of getting the program into the elite category of the B1G.

“It can happen. While it won’t happen overnight, I do think the challenge of getting this program up in the mix in the B1G and making strides and getting better each and every year is a challenge that I’m looking forward to.”

You can listen to the full interview below.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB