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Sources: Jeff Brohm accepts Purdue head-coaching job

Jeff Brohm leaves the field after Western Kentucky’s win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. (Getty Images)
Jeff Brohm leaves the field after Western Kentucky’s win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. (Getty Images)

Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm has accepted the same position at Purdue, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports Monday.

Purdue has since announced the hire and will formally introduce Brohm at 3 p.m ET.

The contract is a six-year deal that sources tell Yahoo Sports is worth about $20 million.

Brohm met with his WKU team and informed them Monday morning. He met with Purdue officials Saturday night, Baylor officials Sunday and also received overtures from Cincinnati during a hectic weekend that also included winning the Conference USA championship.

Reports late last week of an impending deal between Purdue and Brohm were inaccurate, sources said. Purdue made a strong overture to Brohm on Saturday night after the Hilltoppers beat Louisiana Tech that helped win over its next coach.

“They’ve made a major commitment,” a source said.

Still, it wasn’t until after meeting with Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades on Sunday and hearing from Cincinnati that Brohm made the decision to head to West Lafayette.

Current WKU defensive coordinator Nick Holt will coach the Hilltoppers in the Dec. 20 Boca Raton Bowl against Memphis.

Brohm comes to Purdue with a 30-10 record in three seasons at Western Kentucky and won the past two C-USA titles. His offenses have consistently been explosive, averaging 44 or more points per game every season, and the former NFL quarterback has gotten consistently spectacular production from that position.

South Florida transfer Mike White had a pass efficiency rating of 112.2 in 2014 at USF, and 178.7 this year at WKU heading into the game Saturday. Brohm’s quarterback his first two years, Brandon Doughty, threw for nearly 9,900 yards and 97 touchdowns in 2014 and ’15.

Baylor’s search also includes California’s Sonny Dykes and at least one other candidate.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Sunday that Brohm, Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck and former Texas and Louisville coach Charlie Strong are Cincinnati’s top three candidates to replace Tommy Tuberville.

Some early names emerging to potentially replace Brohm at Western Kentucky include Tennessee Titans quarterback coach Jason Michael and current WKU staff assistants Holt and Tony Levine (special teams coordinator and co-offensive coordinator). Michael is a Kentucky native and WKU graduate who quarterbacked the Hilltoppers to the 2002 FCS national championship, and has coached in the NFL for the last 12 years. Holt was the head coach at Idaho in 2004-05 and also has been a defensive coordinator at USC and Washington. Levine was the head coach at Houston from 2012-14 and recruited much of the current talent on the Cougars’ squad.

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