WKU Football: A New Era
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With the opportunity to return to Louisville luring Bobby Petrino away from Western Kentucky after one year, Athletics Director Todd Stewart and President Gary Ransdell made the next logical, and smart chess move by naming offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Jeff Brohm the new head coach of the Hilltopper program.
Brohm's past season working under Petrino allowed him to prepare for this moment, "when I came with Coach Petrino I wanted to get back and see how he ran a program, see up close and personal the things he did on a daily basis. I studied that and paid close attention to it as we were coaching our team and trying to win games. I am looking forward to it and learned a great deal this past year."
The seven-year NFL veteran has ten-years of college coaching experience on his resume and will lead Western Kentucky as they step foot into Conference-USA in their inagural season, "I think it is a quality conference and we are excited to be in it. I think it will bring a lot of energy to our fans to play news teams, to experience going to different places. I think we fit in just great. Our players are excited to play in it. We are going to go out and compete. Without question, our goal is to go out and win the conference championship."
Brohm's transition becomes easier as assistant coaches Neil Callaway, Don Dunn, Mike Cassity, Ricky Brumfield, and Nick Holt will remain on Western Kentucky's staff as the Hilltoppers push forward to the future.
"That's huge. I feel very comfortable with them and they continue to do a tremendous job. I think our recruiting is going extremely well. I feel really good about it. We really haven't missed a beat. We have gotten great response. We work at it on a daily basis. We are in communication with our guys. Recruiting is about not only evaluating talent, but building relationships. As assistants, you usually have a better relationship than the head coach. A lot of that has been very good. We are excited about it. It looks very good and we are going to finish strong," said Brohm on the continuity.
Defensive coordinator and new associate head coach Nick Holt couldn't agree more, "I think it's huge. What I think it really boils down to is the kids that are in our program, I think they're comfortable with us. We know them, they know us. I think a lot of the schemes are going to stay the same. So the learning curve is so much easier. We're excited to get started, and I think the kids are excited about what is transpiring. That's the number one thing about the continuity of what has happened here. I think the kids in our program believe in us, and I think there won't be that big transition where you got to get them on board. They're already on board, so now we just take the next step."
Here is reaction from Western Kentucky players Cam Thomas and Willie McNeal:
Cam Thomas
Willie McNeal
All videos courtesy of WKUsports.com
