Here's what ACC football coaches are saying about Louisville's Jeff Brohm

Dino Babers will never forget Jeff Brohm’s first win as a college football head coach.

The game was Brohm's first leading Western Kentucky, and it was Babers’ first game as Bowling Green State’s head coach. Only one of them was going to start their tenure 1-0 on Aug. 29, 2014, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

And it was Brohm.

“(Western Kentucky) knocked out our quarterback in the first quarter, whooped us bad,” Babers said of the Hilltoppers’ 59-31 victory.

Babers got revenge of some sorts last season when his Syracuse squad beat Brohm’s Purdue team 42-39 via Garrett Shrader’s last-second 25-yard touchdown pass.

“Before we flew down here, the ACC had it on replay,” Babers said about the contest during the ACC Kickoff. "It (went) from a defensive battle that just erupted between two offenses that like to get after each other.”

Babers and Brohm saw each other briefly when Brohm made his official conference debut at the ACC Kickoff. Brohm has begun forming relationships with his new colleagues and is seen as a welcome addition to the league.

While Babers has gone 1-1 coaching against Brohm, Virginia Tech's Brent Pry had success when he was a defensive coordinator at Penn State. The Nittany Lions defeated Purdue 35-7 in 2019.

“We had a really nice defensive line, and I think they were banged up on the front,” said Pry, who’s going into year two as the head football coach at Virginia Tech, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant. "Just from a personnel standpoint, they didn't have much of a chance, but at the same time, they threw it all around the yard and made us work for everything we got that day.”

Brent Key, going into his first year as Georgia Tech’s head coach, recalled a May encounter with Brohm during the ACC spring meetings. Brohm approached Key and Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and noted that all three are now coaching at their alma maters. Cristobal and Brohm have an added layer of coaching in their hometowns. Up until that point, the fun fact hadn’t crossed Key’s mind.

“It's a cool little thing that us three have there,” Key said.

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While Brohm will be a new face in the conference, his work at Purdue and Western Kentucky precedes him.

After taking down Babers’ Bowling Green State team in 2014, Brohm led the Hilltoppers to an 8-5 season. It was only the second time the program reached the eight-win mark since winning nine games in 2004. The Hilltoppers then went 23-5 over the next two seasons.

In his first season at Purdue, Brohm led the team to a 7-6 record, which included a 38-35 bowl win over Arizona in 2017.

“I have certainly watched him from afar. He has done an amazing job,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who has only met Brohm a couple of times but will have to wait until 2024 to face him on the field. “I think he is a great coach. I think, obviously, he is a great fit for Louisville. I will be very surprised if he does not have a lot of success there.”

Pry called Brohm’s passing offense one of the most challenging the Lions would see when he was a coach at Penn State. The Purdue game was one he zeroed in on as a defensive coordinator that offseason.

Having a one-year head start on Brohm in making the move from the Big Ten to the ACC, Pry noted the strength of the skill players and quarterback play in the ACC. It plays well into Brohm’s strengths and skillset.

Not including the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Brohm's offenses at Purdue averaged 5,444.2 yards per season and 418.8 yards per game, both of which would rank fourth among last year’s ACC teams.

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The Boilermakers also had five players picked in the 2023 NFL Draft this past spring, the most since 2004. That included quarterback Aidan O’Connell and wide receiver Charlie Jones, marking the third straight draft where a Purdue receiver was selected.

Meanwhile, Pitt and Clemson led the ACC in draft selections with six each, though only four were offensive players.

“Everybody has a lot of respect for his experiences as a coach and for his play calling, particularly in the passing game,” Pry said of Brohm, who he’ll face Nov. 4 in Louisville. “So, it adds an element to an already very strong league in throwing the ball. Here comes another guy that (is) an expert at it. You better get your DBs oiled up and get your blitz package going because week in and week out in this league, you're gonna see it and what Coach (Brohm) brings just adding to it.

“I'm excited that he's in our league. I think he makes our league better.”

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: What ACC football coaches have to say about Louisville's Jeff Brohm