Brohm 'humbled' by contract, eager to lead Purdue football forward
More from Indy event: Bobinski says sound system coming soon to Ross-Ade
FISHERS, Ind. — Perhaps it was the considerable interest in Purdue’s football coach from other programs toward the end of last season.
Perhaps it was Jeff Brohm’s ability to, shockingly, catapult the Boilermakers to a 7-6 season and a bowl game victory in Year 1.
Perhaps it was how Brohm assembled a competitive, competent coaching staff that figured out ways to pull the most out of players.
Perhaps it was all of those things that led athletic director Mike Bobinski to sit down after the 2017 season and work out a contract extension for Brohm — and a raise, both for Brohm and in the assistant coaches’ salary pool — last month.
Brohm knows there were benefits to his name being discussed as a candidate for Tennessee’s opening, and he admitted Tuesday at the Boilermakers on the Road event at TopGolf that “if they wanted to stop all that, you would have tried to do something right away.”
Ultimately, Brohm said he’s just happy to have a signal to fans and recruits that he’s committed to the program, and this extension did that.
“I think they did it because they liked the progress that the program had been making and wanted to continue to do their part,” Brohm said of the extension. “I’m very appreciative to the leadership at Purdue, President (Mitch) Daniels, Mike Bobinski, Mike Berghoff, all the crew, for trusting me to continue to lead the program, and I’m very humbled by the contract and I’m very thankful to have their support. Now, it gives me the ability to go in and tell people and recruits that we’re going to be here and we’re going to try to put Purdue on the map, win competitive football games and continue to bring the program up as high as we can with the best players we can and hopefully a lot of in-state players, if we can get that done.”
Brohm’s contract now runs through 2024. In the new deal, which was agreed upon last month but hasn’t been signed yet, he’s guaranteed $3.8 million in 2018 (a base of $300,000 with a supplemental stipend of $3.5 million), and that salary increases every year through the end of the contract, topping out at $4.2 million in 2024.
But just as important, Brohm said, is Bobinski and Co.’s commitment to the coaching staff as a whole.
Also negotiated in the new contract was an increase to the assistant coaches’ salary pool, which was $3.5 million and will increase to $3.9 million. After last season, Brohm gave raises to the entire coaching staff, as well as added a 10th full-time assistant, and that got him nearly to the $3.5 million total.
“Every year, things can change so drastically and quickly that you’ve got to be able to react. I just wanted the flexibility to do what was right, to make sure we had the ability to retain our coaches and do our part to make sure that we’re being fair and making sure we’re taking care of our guys,” he said. “Without question, that was a big component (of the contract).
“Any time the program does well, it’s a testament to the coaching staff and the players and all the things they’ve achieved. We have a lot of good coaches. They’ve done a great job. They love being at Purdue. They want to put in the work. We all get along extremely well. It’s a competitive environment, but we’re all in it together. I think they’re looking forward to the future and all the challenges that are ahead.”
Co-defensive coordinator and playcaller Nick Holt got the biggest individual increase of $120,000, according to the Journal & Courier, and he’ll make an assistant-high $620,000 in 2018. It was a well-deserved increase, considering Holt was the mastermind behind Purdue’s defensive transformation.
“He’s got a tremendous amount of experience. He’s a competitor like myself. He wants to win. He wants to give back to these kids,” Brohm said. “He’s been at a lot of places, been there and done that. He’s had his ups, his downs, like all of us. He likes being in this environment where all of our coaches are competing to be great.
“We all understand we have to do our part. Each layer matters. It doesn’t matter if one guy is great if another isn’t doing their part. We’ve got the ability to change this program in a positive direction, if all people are going in the right direction. Without question, he’s done a great job.”
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