Where do the Michigan Wolverines go from here? With Kenny Dillingham deciding to stay put at his alma mater of Arizona State, as well as Kalen DeBoer's Alabama Crimson Tide advancing to the Rose Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff, Warde Manuel and whoever else in charge need to act fast to find the right head coach to lead Michigan in 2026 and beyond. We have a new favorite now...
That would be Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm. They will be taking on the Toledo Rockets in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday afternoon. While we know that Rockets head coach Jason Candle is on his way out of town to UConn with Mike Jacobs coming over from Mercer to replace him, it remains to be seen what Brohm wants to do. He may be back at his alma mater, but he is outstanding.
Not only has Brohm brought U of L back to respectability, but he did extraordinary things previously leading the Purdue Boilermakers. Look at how back Purdue has been since he left... Meanwhile, Brohm has taken the Cardinals from being a pedestrianly mediocre team in the ACC under Scott Satterfield's direction, and has turned them into a giant killer in the last three years. This might work!
Of course, getting someone to leave their alma mater at this stage of the game is such a huge ask...
Michigan Wolverines must watch what Jeff Brohm does in Boca Raton
At this stage of the coaching carousel, Brohm has already been given a contract extension to stay at Louisville. He got that as part of the coaching search where Penn State finally landed a great coach for them in Matt Campbell out of Iowa State. Campbell did not play in Ames, so that made things easier. Brohm is in a similar spot to that of Dillingham at Arizona State, and Clark Lea with Vanderbilt.
Whenever you have a strong head coach doing extraordinary things at their alma mater, it makes it so challenging to leave. Kirby Smart is never going to leave Georgia, but sometimes, coaches at good, to lower-tiered jobs might leave. It does not always work out for them... Look no further than Jonathan Smith leaving Oregon State for Michigan State, as well as Rich Rodriguez leaving WVU for Michigan...
In the end, Brohm is actually a tremendous candidate for the Michigan post. He had Purdue winning eight or nine games annually only a few years ago. He is doing the same thing back at Louisville. He had the Boilermakers and Cardinals playing in their respective conference title bouts not that long ago. Imagine what he could do with Michigan's resources... That is why he might end up leaving soon.
Overall, if Brohm were to pack up his things and head to Ann Arbor after the Boca Raton Bowl, Louisville does not have to look all that long and hard at his replacement. They could bring back a former assistant of theirs in Lance Taylor, who just won the MAC over at Western Michigan. That should be U of L's first call if Brohm does decide to leave. Michigan might want to hope that he does.
For now, let's sit back and watch the Boca Raton Bowl to see if Brohm's head is over in Ann Arbor...