After a successful 6-year stint spearheading Purdue football where he finished with a 36-34 record including 4 bowl appearances, and an appearance in the Big 10 Championship this season, Jeff Brohm is off to take the head coaching position at his alma mater of Louisville.
Reports suggest that Purdue offered Brohm the proverbial blank check, and he replied that it wasn’t about that, that it was a call from home. This helps Purdue, believe it or not. It shows the coaching world they have the financial flexibility to provide whoever they hire with the right resources to succeed, and a nice cushy salary to boot.
With an idea of the stature of the Purdue job at present, let’s take a look into three early candidates who might be of interest to Purdue to replace the outgoing Brohm.
3. Matt Campbell, Iowa State HC
It feels like Campbell’s name is one that has come up in just about every coaching search across the Big Ten and Big 12, and it’s likely he’ll emerge as a candidate here as well.
He’s amassed an 81-57 record in his time in Ames, but he would undoubtedly be the most expensive coach on this list, with a salary of $4 million on his contract with Iowa State. That’s not to say Purdue can’t afford to give him a raise, they very much can. But money they save on the head coach may be used elsewhere in the program, so it’s something to keep in mind.
There’s various reports on Campbell’s willingness to leave Iowa State, but who really knows. However, a coach with his resume definitely at least deserves consideration, even if Purdue ends up looking in other directions.
2. Jason Candle, Toledo HC
Could Purdue target the head coach of the current MAC Football Champions? Perhaps. Candle has had opportunities to leave Toledo before and turned them down, but maybe Purdue is finally the one to break through.
With a 53-32 record at Toledo and a reputation as an ace recruiter, he checks a lot of boxes. He actually replaced Matt Campbell at Toledo, and has kept them in the upper echelon of the MAC the whole time.
The only question on Candle is his lack of Power Five experience, but sometimes a program has to take a punt on a coach like Candle, and find out for themselves how or if he’d be able to adjust to the pressures of Big Ten football.
1. Charles Huff, Marshall HC
If Purdue is going to take a punt on someone with less-than-ideal experience, Charles Huff may be the guy to do it on. He’s in his second season with Marshall, amassing a 15-10 record, but he does have a signature win this season, his road victory over Notre Dame.
He’s got the same reputation as Candle as far as recruiting goes, but he’s got experience on Power Five staffs. Name a position on offense and Huff has probably coached it at some point.
He may not be the “program builder” Candle is, or he might be after all. His relatively little head coaching experience may be of concern to Purdue, but as mentioned with Candle, sometimes you have to put that issue to the side.
Sometimes a coach comes along without the experience or the pedigree, but you can just feel it in your bones they are going to be successful at any level they choose to coach at. Huff may very well be that guy for Purdue football.
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