Six sleeper prospects that developed into stars under Jeff Brohm
Jeff Brohm is headed back to Kentucky for his second head coaching stint in the state, only this time he will be taking the reins of one of the state's Power Five programs in Louisville.
Brohm has proven more than capable of transforming undervalued recruits into college stars during his stints at Western Kentucky and Purdue, which is an extremely valuable trait to have at any non-blueblood program.
Here is a look at five undervalued recruits that Brohm developed into stars when he was the head coach of the Hilltoppers and Boilermakers.
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Daughty arrived at Western Kentucky as a low three-star quarterback with one Power Five offer and left as one of college football's most decorated passers. Doughty's first year as a starter came in 2013 when Jeff Brohm was the offensive coordinator for the Hilltoppers and although his passing stats were impressive during that first season, few could have predicted what was to come.
During Brohm's first season as the Hilltoppers head coach, Doughty played out of his mind and led the entire NCAA in both passing yards and passing touchdowns. The following season under Brohm's mentorship was even more spectacular and Doughty went on to complete 72 percent of his passes for 5,055 yards with 49 passing touchdowns. Every one of those stats led all of college football and later led to Doughty being an NFL draft pick.
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With Doughty off to the NFL, Brohm was in need of a difference maker behind center for there to be any chance of replicating the magic of WKU's 12-win season in 2015. Then a relatively unknown transfer quarterback from USF who had just come off of a season in which he completed 50.4 percent of his passes for 1,639 yards took his talents to Western. That quarterback was Mike White.
While Brohm only had one season with White, the way in which he was able to transform a previously average quarterback into a star at such a rapid pace was quite remarkable. In White's lone season under Brohm, he completed 67 percent of his passes for 4,363 yards and 37 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. The rest was history and you can now find White starting behind center for the New York Jets.
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Super Bowl champion Tyler Higbee wasn't always flying high in the football world and arrived at Western Kentucky as a 6-foot-5, 200-pound tight end with one other FBS offer and Rivals' lowest rating for a two-star prospect.
Brohm's ascension from offensive coordinator to head coach in 2014 also happened to be when Higbee began to break out as a dominant tight end. Higbee finished his career at Western Kentucky with 68 receptions for 1,054 yards and 14 touchdowns prior to being selected by the Rams in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft.
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Taylor arrived at Western Kentucky as an undervalued prospect with little hype surrounding his name. During Brohm's first season as head coach in 2014 he began to utilize Taylor as a weapon resulting in a productive season with 45 receptions for 767 yards and seven touchdowns. Then Brohm managed to make some magic happen and Taylor became one of college football's most dominant receivers in 2015 and 2016.
The underrated receiver broke out in 2015 by setting school records for receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns in a season. During Brohm's final season at the helm in 2016, Taylor did it again by one-upping his record-breaking junior season with 98 receptions, 1,730 yards and 17 touchdowns, while also setting the school record for career receptions with 253.
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O'Connell arrived on campus with zero stars to his name and without a scholarship in hand. He spent his first two seasons on the bench while learning the nuances of Brohm's offense. Then year three came around and O'Connell finally had a chance to shine while appearing in six games and starting three. While his playing time was limited, he showed promise with 400 yards and three touchdowns against Indiana as well as a game-winning drive against Nebraska in the final minutes.
Year three showed promise but his season ended prematurely due to an injury. What appeared to be a curse at the time probably ended up being a blessing as he was able to spend the rest of the season studying under Brohm and preparing for his breakout season the following year. That extra time with Brohm paid dividends as O'Connell went 315-of-439 passing for 3,712 yards and 28 touchdowns en route to earning second-team All Big Ten honors.
O'Connell finished with a bang in his final season at Purdue by leading the Boilermakers to the Big Ten Championship game while throwing for 3,490 yards and 22 touchdowns. There is definitely a theme with Brohm's quarterbacks, but O'Connell may be the best example of his aptitude for making stars out of players that others passed on.
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Jones started his career at Buffalo before opting to transfer to Iowa as a walk-on after his freshman season. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, Jones became a serviceable receiver for the Hawkeyes in addition to becoming an all-conference performer as a punt returner. While many would be happy with the role Jones carved out for himself in Iowa, he chose to bet on himself and opted to transfer to Purdue for his final season with hopes of thriving in Brohm's offense.
Thrive is exactly what Jones did at Purdue by going from role player to leading the entire nation in receiving with 110 receptions for 1,361 yards and 12 touchdowns. Not bad for a player that was somewhat of a journeyman prior to showing up at Purdue for his final season where he transformed from a role player to a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist and likely draft pick under the tutelage of Brohm.