Purdue is reeling.

Jeff Brohm, 1 of 3 Purdue coaches with a career winning record since former Boilermaker Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, is gone. Brohm returned to his alma mater, Louisville, in a move that was always destined to happen. It was just a matter of when.

Scott Satterfield greased the skids with his surprise move to Cincinnati — a vacancy created by Luke Fickell’s jump to Wisconsin.

Ironically, that circle — Fickell to Wisconsin, Satterfield to Cincy, Brohm to Louisville — has a chance to be squared.

As announced on Twitter, Jim Leonhard is open for business. And Purdue AD Mike Bobinski’s first move should be sliding into Leonhard’s DMs if he hasn’t already.

Leonhard went 4-3 in his tryout for the Wisconsin head coaching vacancy before ultimately being bypassed in favor of Fickell. You’d expect hard feelings in this situation, though in this case they appear to be minimized.

From the sound of things last week, both parties had a sense of optimism that Leonhard would reprise his role as the Badgers’ defensive coordinator.

Perhaps those leaks were inaccurate. Such a move is unheard of. But given the reputations of both Leonhard and Fickell, it’s plausible that they really would have been able to put egos aside.

Leonhard may have announced that he’s leaving Wisconsin not because the arrangement wasn’t going to work, but because he knew something better was about to be available.

Like, say, the Purdue head coaching vacancy.

Why Jim Leonhard is a good fit for Purdue

Let’s begin at the most superficial level.

Say you were a college program — any program — and you lost 16 straight games to a conference rival. At some point you’d at least consider hiring someone away from that program, right?

Welcome to Purdue’s world.

Improbably, the Boilermakers are in the midst of such a losing streak to Wisconsin. It goes all the way back to 2004, when Leonhard was still a Wisconsin safety and Kyle Orton was Purdue’s quarterback.

The streak isn’t easily explicable, like when Notre Dame beat Navy 43 straight times. Or Ohio State’s current 25-game streak against Indiana. There are obvious financial and talent disparities between those programs. No such gulf exists between the Boilermakers and Badgers.

That was quite amply demonstrated this year, when Purdue won the Big Ten West despite losing to Wisconsin yet again. A Wisconsin team that was coached by Leonhard.

But the Wisconsin ties aren’t what makes Leonhard an ideal candidate for the Boilers. That connection is merely the whipped cream on top. Or the butter on the popcorn, to use a more Purdue-centric metaphor.

Leonhard is the ideal candidate for this job because of his knowledge of Purdue. And for a program where success is far from guaranteed, it helps to have someone who knows what he is getting into.

For the past 7 seasons, Leonhard has broken down Purdue’s offenses. On that side of the ball, at least, he’s intimately aware of the program’s strengths and weaknesses. Especially the weaknesses, given Wisconsin’s repeated ability to exploit them. That’s no small thing given that offense is Purdue’s bread-and-butter.

Leonhard can ace his interview by saying, “Purdue would have beaten us if it had a [fill-in-the-blank] type of player or scheme.” And then explain what he would do to further enhance the program-building that Brohm started.

It also goes without saying that it would be fascinating to see Purdue pivot to a defensive-minded head coach. Leon Burtnett (1982-86) is the most recent Purdue coach who was previously a defensive coordinator.

Wisconsin led the Big Ten in scoring defense twice in Leonhard’s 7-year tenure. Purdue hasn’t ranked better than 4th since 2000, which is the last time it won the Big Ten. The Boilers have not led the Big Ten in scoring defense since 1959.

That’s what you call a culture change.

Good fit doesn’t mean must-hire

None of these things mean that Purdue needs to hire Leonhard on the spot. If it was a no-brainer, Wisconsin would have kept him on as head coach.

But unexpected things happen in coaching searches.

Fickell to Wisconsin wasn’t on anyone’s radar, and then he was in Madison. Given the resumes of both coaches, the Badgers made the correct choice. Perhaps another accomplished candidate will present Purdue with a similar reason not to hire the 40-year-old Leonhard.

It’s also possible that another candidate will simply prove better once the interview process is completed.

But Leonhard absolutely needs to be at the top of that interview list.

Knowing what it takes to win football games is not the same as knowing what it takes to win football games at Purdue. Fred Akers had 3 10-win seasons at Texas but couldn’t figure out how to win more than 4 games in West Lafayette.

Few candidates can match Leonhard’s Purdue insight. And that could make all the difference for a program where success is possible, but never guaranteed.