College football’s top 25 highest-paid coaches for 2020 season

9. Jeff Brohm – Purdue

• 2020 Salary: $6.6. million

Jeff Brohm is another coach that made the most of his opportunity with a school that doesn’t have a ton of success in football. Purdue paid a massive price to keep Brohn from leaving the Boilermakers to coach for the Louisville Cardinals. Now, he’s a coach that in his third year at the university, the year when his recruits start taking over, his team went 4-8. It’s a rough situation to be in.

Brohm did secure a top 25 recruiting class, but it won’t mean much if he can’t get results on the field. Those really good recruits will transfer to other programs where they aren’t always losing or that would raise their profile.

The Boilermakers aren’t the type of team to usually pay big for athletics. They don’t have the history of championships or the top NFL players to build a legacy. Drew Brees is obviously the biggest name, but since then they’ve only had six first and second-round picks in 19 years. They haven’t’ had anyone taken in day one or day two of the NFL Draft since Kawann Short in 2013. That includes Brohm’s entire tenure.

This one’s a head-scratcher, and it’s not going to make sense any time soon. Until Brohm can make the Boilermakers at least a competitive team in the Big Ten, the price won’t be worth the reward.