Take Two: Can Purdue make run at Big Ten West title with Brohm?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites
THE STORYLINE
In the four years before coach Jeff Brohm arrived at Purdue, the Boilermakers had a record of 9-39 under Darrell Hazell. It was a hopeless mess as the Big Ten school had never won more than one Big Ten game in a season under the former regime.
Brohm came over to Purdue from Western Kentucky and inherited a program that looked like a disaster. It was a rebuilding project in a conference that was getting much better, especially in with the Big Ten East with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan. In the West, Wisconsin and Iowa were on solid footing, and P.J. Fleck was just hired at Minnesota.
In his first season, Brohm shocked nearly everybody by the team he put on the field. From a Big Ten joke to no laughing matter, Purdue finished 7-6 and won the Foster Farms Bowl.
The most impressive part was that Purdue could have had a much better record. It lost by only seven to Lamar Jackson-led Louisville and the Boilermakers led early in the fourth. There was an eight-point loss to Wisconsin and a one-point loss to Nebraska.
Brohm recently signed a contract extension at Purdue and while that’s no guarantee he stays in West Lafayette, it’s a step in the right direction.
Can the Boilermakers become a contender in the Big Ten West, which is becoming more competitive but could be wide open for new teams to take over?
FIRST TAKE: STACY CLARDIE, GOLDANDBLACK.COM
“As we know, agreeing to a contract extension doesn't guarantee a coach will stay for the term of the contract, but if Jeff Brohm sticks in West Lafayette and largely is able to retain his coaching staff, especially co-coordinator and defensive play-caller Nick Holt, the future certainly seems brighter for Purdue. Brohm shocked nearly everyone by pushing the Boilermakers to a bowl game in his first season when it seemed like he landed a considerable rebuilding project and did it, largely, by putting players in the best positions to make plays and catering the systems toward strengths. That allowed guys who'd been bordering on potential to break out to actually break out, especially on Holt's defense.
"As Brohm is able to recruit more playmakers for his ideal multiple, innovative, chuck-it-around offense — the offense Purdue couldn't really play last season without the right personnel —that'd seem to give Purdue a chance to compete in the division in a couple years. Purdue still is probably another year or two away from that, but it's hard to doubt the staff, considering what it orchestrated last season.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“They can compete in the Big Ten West. It’s not a division that’s dominated by anybody. Wisconsin is a very good and consistently powerful football program. After that, it seems pretty wide open.
“Purdue started off the season very well. The offense has improved. I don’t think Brohm is going anywhere right yet. There was an opportunity, if you believe some people, about him going to Tennessee. He could have jumped if he wanted to jump already if he wanted to, especially with all those coaching moves at the end of last season. He’s going to be there for the foreseeable future and they have a bright outlook to be one of those consistent bowl teams in the West.”
