on what Brohm said and didn't say about the UL job opening...
Sure, the natural tendency for fans, when their coach refuses to squelch rumors of leaving, is to assume the worst, that the non-denial is evidence that the coach MUST be considering the jump.
And perhaps this time it is.
But if all of us with any memory will recall, that is exactly what happened last year. And Brohm did not leave. In fact, in a recent interview, he laid out, in very plain terms, a clue regarding what may be his real motivation for not killing the rumors this time around...
(courtesy of GBI)
"Various reports last winter connected Brohm's name as a candidate to the opening at Tennessee. Brohm was quick to point out Thursday night that not only did he not leave the Boilermakers program after his first year but recruiting interest increased after that coaching carousel hype.
'I don't think I had a problem dealing with it last year to be honest with you. People think I'm exaggerating but our recruiting went in this direction,' Brohm said as he pointed his pen straight up in the sky. 'Any little thing that you can do to give your program credibility in the eyes of 17- and 18-year-olds across the country has an effect.'"
Jeff Brohm is clearly a very smart man. And he likely knows that if he came right out in the middle of this current media firestorm and killed the rumors, the media would simply move on to the next name on the list - and the Brohm/Purdue PR moment would have passed. End of story.
But by letting the rumors fly, the media attention remains fixated on Brohm and Purdue for at least a couple more weeks - as the media continues to sing Brohm's praises and further build his credibility with recruits that may still be on the fence. If true, this strategy by Brohm would be brilliant.
And considering Milton Wright committed when all this speculation was reaching a fever pitch, perhaps this is a measure of proof of that strategy. After all, being from Louisville, Wright knew what was happening with UL and Petrino. He could see the writing on the wall. And he would have known Brohm would be UL's first choice to replace Petrino.
Yet Wright could have merely waited to let things settle out. I mean, if you're only interested in committing to the coach, why commit to Purdue??? He could have told Brohm that he was ready to commit, but wanted to see where Brohm ended up, first.
But he didn't.
And while verbals can be written off, like so many hand-wringing UL fans are doing, it just does not make sense for Wright to commit publicly to the school that Brohm is supposedly leaving, especially when he absolutely did not need to.
Jeff Brohm is very much of a straight shooter, and will say exactly how he feels. But the media doesn't know that - or care, for that matter. They just care about the hot story and generating clicks. And as long as Brohm deflects, the story will not go away, and neither will the PR and credibility for both Brohm and Purdue.
Brilliant.
JMHOAU
