Brohm is 13-12 in two seasons at Purdue

The Boilermakers are appearing in back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 2011 and 2012

Purdue is 3-0 against ranked teams this season

Brohm met with Louisville AD Vince Tyra on Tuesday

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The stress in his voice was real. The look on his face was one of anguish.

This is about as real as it gets for a football coach — or anybody for that matter — trying to make the most difficult decision of his life and career.

Return home and try to pull his alma mater’s program at Louisville out of the dumpster fire or remain at Purdue and continue the building process, which has gone better than expected in his first two seasons.

Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm would rather make the call to go for it on fourth-and-1 in a close game or dialing up a trick play than endure the 48-hour period where he had to choose his hometown or a university and a community that has fully embraced him.

It was close to two-days of agony, based on his tone and facial expressions during a one-on-one interview Thursday afternoon with the Journal & Courier before Brohm left on a recruiting trip.

“This is by far No. 1. The hardest ever. Not even close," Brohm said about the decision to stay with the Boilermakers and bypass an opportunity to return home.

The news Wednesday that Brohm was staying at Purdue brought joy and relief to Purdue’s fan base. The reaction was much different across the Ohio River where the city firmly believed Brohm was returning to save the Cardinals from their recent struggles. He confirmed he met with Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra on Tuesday.

The bottom line – Brohm wasn’t going to make everyone happy, including some who are close to him.

“It was gut-wrenching. It was excruciating. More emotional than I would like, which is a whole lot emotional,” Brohm said. “I know I wasn’t going to please everybody. When you know whatever you do you’re not going to please everybody, you times it by another 10. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was by far above 10 and nothing has been close.”

Louisville fired Bobby Petrino on Nov. 11, two weeks before the end of the regular season. Brohm’s name was immediately linked to the job, which shocked no one.

He’s a Louisville native, attended Trinity High School where he was a star quarterback and played football for the Cardinals and later in the NFL. The Brohm family is a fixture throughout the community.

The pull of returning home was real.

“It has disappointed quite a few people. It has disappointed quite a few people that I’m close to, actually real close to. I get it. But at the same time, you have to be strong in your conviction and believe in what you’re all about. None of us are perfect – I’m not – but I’m going to try to do the right thing,” Brohm said.

The right thing – at this moment – is for Brohm to remain at Purdue and keep the program on the upswing. The Boilermakers are headed to their second straight bowl game and the incoming recruiting class — ranked in the top 25 nationally — can elevate next year’s team another step.

He’ll have the resources to make sure the Boilermakers can contend for the Big Ten West and a conference championship. The university’s commitment remains strong in providing everything within reason to make sure this continues to be successful at the highest level.

What Purdue actually did for Brohm won’t be known until all the paperwork is finalized, but it’s going to be substantial in terms of salary and other resources. He signed a contract extension last spring through 2024 and is scheduled to make $3.9 million — before bonuses — in 2019.

Expect that number to increase once the board of trustees gives its final approval.

“Purdue’s been great and that’s no shot at Louisville. Louisville was great to me,” Brohm said. “I like it where I’m at and I think we have all the resources we need to continue to get better and improve and try to become a contender and a competitor in a great conference to play at a high level.

“Really, the last place I was at (Western Kentucky) I probably would’ve stayed there forever other than this is a step up in football and I need to do it right here.”

Most coaches focus on themselves and their own family during these situations — and Brohm certainty took care of his own interests — but he came across Thursday as an individual who genuinely cared about how his decision would impact everyone around him.

Players. Current commitments. Future recruits. Assistant coaches and their families. Support personnel. And many others.

“As a coach but also a former player you always hear 'Take care of yourself, take care of your family,' ” he said. “When someone moves and takes another job, it affects a lot of people. It affects the staff you have, it affects the people that you have that have helped you to get where you’re at.

“More importantly, the players on your team that you asked to play for you and for the university, the recruits you recruit, the recruits that you are recruiting and in the recruiting process you have to tell people what you believe and not just what they want to hear.”

Brohm sits in the homes of his current commitments and their families. He did last year, even before the Louisville job was open but everyone knew the deep ties Brohm has with the city.

They asked pointed questions.

“When I sit in people’s house and they specifically ask me, ‘Coach, are you going to be there? And I say, ‘Yes’ and even more detailed when people like Rondale Moore and others specifically ask me, ‘Coach, I’m not interested in going there if you’re going to Louisville. You’re not going to Louisville, are you? and I say, ‘No, I’m not going to be there.’

“I don’t think when an opportunity comes that is convenient for you that is a place that means a lot to you that it’s just OK to take care of yourself and your family but what about the other people?”

In the end, Brohm was in a win-win situation personally but in a no-win situation overall.

“Am I going to be taken care of? It’s a win-win. But affecting other people and their opinion of you and your reputation and that’s more important than any other thing you have or any monetary thing you have,” Brohm said.

“I knew I was going to take a shot either way. That’s what I didn’t like about it, but I didn’t ask for this to happen. It happened. I can’t complain about it, but it was tough, yeah, I feel like some people are disappointed.”

Neal tears ACL; Thieneman's status up in the air

• Jeff Brohm said Thursday that defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal suffered a torn ACL in the Old Oaken Bucket victory last week. Brohm said Neal is expected to undergo surgery soon.

"As far as we know, it’s strictly an ACL," Brohm said. "It might be a clean ACL. I think by fall camp he should be 100 percent ready to go."

• Whether safety Jacob Thieneman is available for the bowl game remains unclear. Thieneman missed the three games with a shoulder injury and a staph infection.

"That one we're going to try but I couldn't tell you right now," Brohm said. "I think he has to gain some weight and some strength and see how he feels."

Purdue learns its bowl destination Sunday.

• Quarterback David Blough and receiver Terry Wright have accepted invitations to play in the 94th annual East-West Shrine game on January 19 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

NO TO LOUISVILLE:'I believe that remaining at Purdue is the right thing to do'

REACTION:Jeff Brohm stays at Purdue | Recruits react

BOWL PROJECTIONS:New York, Detroit or Nashville