 Hi, I'm Kate Young and you're listening to This is Purdue, the official podcast for Purdue University. As a Purdue alum and Indiana native, I know firsthand about the family of students and professors who are in it together, persistently pursuing and relentlessly rethinking. Who are the next game changers, difference makers, ceiling breakers, innovators? Who are these boiler makers? Join me as we feature students, faculty and alumni taking small steps toward their giant leaps and inspiring others to do the same. Well, we love the boiler maker community. We love West Lafayette slash Lafayette. We live right across the street from the stadium, an older neighborhood with a lot of great people, a lot of professors living in there, a lot of people that have lived there for years. And really anyone we've come across that represents Purdue, really are special people. Purdue University's head football coach, Jeff Brom joins us on This is Purdue. And well, yes, we did talk football. I also got to know coach Brom on a more personal level, and I'm so excited to share that with our listeners. In this episode, we discuss why he loves the spirited yet humble boiler maker community. Coach told me he still drives his Honda Accord, how it feels to work directly with his family day in and day out, and why it's so important to him to build a team of successful young men, both on and off the field. I spent a lot of time preparing for this interview, reading every article I could on Coach Brom, watching previous Big Ten Network interviews with him, looking at players he recruited, even listening to a few sports radio shows. Sure, I loved sharing all my boiler makers anywhere I can, but I'm certainly not a football guru. But as I look back on our previous episodes, it's not always about the amazing things happening in the Purdue community. It's about the people behind these amazing things. So who is Coach Brom as a person, as a dad, husband, brother? One of the goals of this podcast is to get to know the faces behind Purdue. And I thought it was interesting when I was researching for this interview, I didn't know that you worked with your brothers. So tell us a little bit about what it's like to work with your family. You know, it's special to have your family here, working with you and a big part of it. And my older brother, Greg, is our director of operations and chief of staff. And, you know, he's really the smart one with the brains behind it all and, you know, helps us make good decisions and think things through when it happens and does a lot of the small work that people don't see behind the scenes that really needs to be done. And my younger brother, Brian, is our quarterback coach and co-offence coordinator. And he is the calmer version of me and then the more relaxed version that is great for our quarterbacks and great for our team to see the composure and the poise that he has during practice and during games and throughout life. And those are always good. I have a 16-year-old son and Brady, who's always around. And, you know, he's great at telling me all the things I need to do better at. So it's good to have him and my wife, she's, they're good at keeping me in check. My daughter's 10 years old and she loves to be around it as well. And as part of the Borla Junior's volleyball program and really enjoys that. So, you know, it's great to have everyone around. That's what makes it fun when everyone can be a part of it. And since my family's around, you know, I have more people than normal that tell me all the things that I need to get better at and not do wrong. So it does keep you in check and it keeps you balanced and it keeps you well grounded and it's good for you. So, you know, sometimes you get on a perch as a head coach and some people are scared to tell you a few things here and there and things that maybe you should think twice about before you do. But I have plenty of that here. So things are normally thought through very intensely and extensively. I think it helps and they enjoy it and, you know, they're not scared to tell me things I need to hear. You seem very calm. So I'm interested to see a calmer version of you. Well, and I normally can be pretty calm. You know, game day, I can be a little excited, a little bit and a little bit more passionate about the game. But Brian is calm all the time and he's composed. And that's how he was a quarterback and that's how he played and that was a strength of his. And so when you're getting together at family dinners on a Sunday, is there any bickering about football or do you guys try to leave it to the side that day? Well, when we get together, there's normally talk of all the things that are happening in our life and how we need to do it better. And, you know, a lot of times it'll be have a fun twist and a comical twist and we're not scared to take jabs at each other. And that's always good for us. But sometimes to be quite honest, we're around each other so much. Sometimes we need a break on a Sunday or Saturday from all that. So it's a balance of those two things. But, you know, everyone does a great job with it and they enjoy it. And we want to try to do our part to make a difference and to help, you know, all these young men have success and hopefully make the game fun and exciting, entertaining to watch. And those are our priorities for us. And, you know, while we have a few other hobbies, really not as many as you think, you know, this stuff is important to us. And we want to do a good job. And you talked about your two kids. What has it been like raising them in West Lafayette around this community and they're so immersed in the Spoiler Maker community? Well, we love the Boiler Maker community. We love West Lafayette slash Lafayette. You know, we live right across the street from the stadium, an older neighborhood with a lot of great people. A lot of professors live in there. A lot of people that have lived there for years. And really anyone we've come across that represents Purdue really are special people. And there's a lot of successful people that have achieved a lot of things that are very humble and unassuming. It's a blue collar approach here, which we appreciate. That's kind of what we believe in. People that really just like to work hard and achieve success and don't really need a lot of attention with it, but they do want to make a difference in whatever they're doing. And they appreciate people that work hard. So I think that's what is great about this community is it's a college campus. It revolves around Purdue. People support it. People want to, you know, be entertained and have a good time. But they understand that, you know, anyone who's gone through a Purdue education values the importance of teamwork and values the importance of achievement and success and the road to get there. You know, it's great for our kids to be around that and they enjoy it and the people here are very respectful and we couldn't ask for anything more. Speaking of West Lafayette being a wonderful community for his kids to grow up in, Coach shares his favorite Boilermaker tradition with us. Do you and your family have any Purdue traditions that you've participated in? Probably one Purdue tradition that we participate in is of course here you get a little bit more snow than the average place. And when you do, you know, our first time at Slater Hill was a lot of fun slaying down the hill. Crowd was great enthusiasm of sledding down a big hill and never know where you're going to end. And the traffic that you get because it's a ton of students and people over there was a lot of fun. So we like to do that when the weather starts to get snow on the ground and that's always enjoyable for family. Anyone who knows much about Purdue football knows Coach Brom's son, 16-year-old Brady Brom. He's a fixture on the sidelines during practices and games. During a 2017 interview on the Big Ten Network, reporter Mike Hall featured both Coach Brom and Brady and an entire Chicago Tribune article was dedicated to Brady's enthusiasm for the spoiler maker team. The article highlights Brady cruising around West Lafayette in a golf cart, ordering milkshakes at McDonald's, checking in on players, and correcting any mistakes he may have seen on practice or game day schedules. I couldn't help but laugh while I was reading this article. Greg Brom mentioned the time the media showed up at the airport to interview some players. When Greg asked who gave permission for these interviews, the media members pointed to Brady, who was just 10 years old at the time. Here's Coach Brom's take on his son's involvement with the team. Well, he's 16 years old. He's going to be a junior and a couple years ago, he kind of gave up playing football. He kind of just likes to be around it and he's a fan of the sport like a lot of people. He really likes to be behind the scenes and be on the operational side where my older brothers are part of and understands that to a great deal. Normally, he'll see errors that we do and keep us in line. So he's into it. He likes to be around the players. He likes to be around the other coaches. You know, even though he's around me some, he probably likes to be around the other people a whole lot more. So he enjoys our relationships. He's much more of a people person than I was at that age. He's outgoing. You know, he loves to have a good time and to be around a group of people and to laugh and to joke. But football in this building and football games, he enjoys that to a great deal and he wants to win and he wants to support the players and the coaches and try to make a difference. So it's fun to have him around. My daughter's at the age of 10. She's getting to that point. You know, she's playing sports herself quite a bit and doing a great job in volleyball and playing softball and basketball, but she likes to sneak over here as much as she can. And my wife gets a little upset when they always want to come over here and not around her, but she's getting at that age where she, you know, enjoys, you know, all the people in this building really from the training staff to the equipment staff to the strength staff to the administrative staff. She just likes to be around people and to be around people that, you know, work hard to do their part as big or as small as it is. So that's been more fun to see both of them around here a little bit more. Even my daughter, you know, they enjoy it. So it's been a lot of fun to this point. Do you think that the players can sense and appreciate this family feel, you know, working under your family? I think our players appreciate that what they see from myself and our families genuine. There's no act. We're family people in general, and we like to have an extended family as well. People that all just want to have a good time together, work hard at the goals that we set forth and try to achieve those and do it together and have some fun doing it. And I think having balance in your life is important not only for our players, but for our coaches and for everyone in general, that yes, you want to be driven and yes, you want to work your tail off to achieve those goals, but there has to be some enjoyment along the way. There has to be some experience with other people where you're developing relationships and you're helping others and you're serving others. And it's not just all about the end all result. It's about the experiences along the way, the people that you've helped out along the way, the relationships you developed and your ability to help serve other people. And that's been a big part of I think watching our players grow is, you know, the growth off the field is important. And, you know, community service has been a big component of what we try to get down with our guys. And I think when you see our players go out there and do their part and help serve, it's always rewarding, not only for us, but for them, people that they serve. And that's a big part of teaching, you know, everyone to understand that let's see the big picture on this while getting the wind is extremely important. There's other things that we can do along the way. So as you can tell, football is truly a family affair for the Brahms. But how did it all start? Well, Coach Brahm's father, Oscar, played quarterback at University of Louisville. Then Coach Brahm was the quarterback for University of Louisville with his older brother, Greg, playing wide receiver. And then their younger brother, Brian, played for Louisville as Coach Brahm was an assistant coach there. Talk about some serious athletic genes. I asked Coach Brahm if having two brothers on this 2021 Purdue team, George and Yanni Karloftis makes him look back on his time playing with his brother, Greg, at Louisville. Does that bring back any memories from you and your brother playing in your college days? Well, probably does. You know, I think playing in your hometown is always special in general with both George and Yanni. And they're a rich family history here in the community. They're two great young men that are a little bit different in personality, but they're great workers. They want to do something special. Yanni is just getting here. And I know he wants to, you know, make a name for himself and he's worked extremely hard. But they're both great teammates and I know they're going to enjoy playing with each other and are going to enjoy the moments after games of spending time with, you know, their family and friends and enjoying the experience. Great ambassadors for Purdue. We're fortunate to have them on our team. They carry themselves in a tremendous way and our players look up to them. So I'm looking forward to them doing great things this year and we want to help them achieve that. As I mentioned, Coach Brom has a rich and lengthy history in this sport. Football is such a core piece of his life. He grew up with it. He played it. He played it professionally. His kids are now growing up surrounded by it. I asked Coach how all of his football experience supports his coaching methods. Tell me a little bit about your time. You played college football, you played in the NFL. How does that translate into coaching and forming these young men? I think anytime you can experience playing the game, the college level, and even the NFL level at the highest level, those are valuable experiences, not only valuable experiences, but the people that you interact with as players with your coaches played with. A lot of great people, a lot of knowledgeable people, a lot of successful people, and they all have their own strengths and personalities. And you try to take a little bit piece of that and help you develop your game plan for success. But I've been fortunate enough to have some great people to work under and great people to play with. And I think our players know that I try to be a player's coach as much as I can. There's always got to be some discipline and toughness involved in football, but you want to work with them. And every individual is different and they come from a different background. And you got to try to understand more about that than just getting them to be the best football player you can. But if you do that, the players are going to know that you're invested in them and you're investing in their individual success as well. And if they see that, they're normally going to return the favor and do their part. And we want to push our guys to have success not only on the field, but in the classroom and do things right and try to always keep a pulse of that. And that's for myself, all of our assistant coaches. So I think working hard to set that foundation up and to make sure that you carried out this built upon the experiences that I was able to have. And I think our players know that we're going to do right by them. We're going to do everything we can to help them get that done. And I think because of that, they work extremely hard. And you mentioned playing under certain people and working with certain people. Do you have anything from your coach, Howard Schellenberger, that you particularly took a lesson from and brought it to Purdue? Well, I think we've all been a part of great teachers and great coaches throughout our career. And mine can even go back to my high school days. My high school football coach was really was the best. His name was Dennis Lampe. He was the best. And now I'm helping his team achieve success, but really cared about his players. He was always willing to tell his guys that he loved them, that he cared about them. And we felt that. I think he played for him extremely hard because of that. It wasn't just a knowledge he had. Really, his strength was he really connected with his players. I played for Coach Schellenberger, who was an icon in coaching profession and achieved a lot of success, national championships, NFL championships, all undefeated season. And really, you know, the toughness and intensity that he instilled in his players was unmatched. And at the same time, he was able to get his team to believe that they could achieve anything they wanted come game day. And that's as important as anything, the belief that you can get it done. And he was a master at helping his team believe that they could conquer anything sitting in front of him. So there's a long list, you know, I played under Bill Walsh, who was a great NFL coach and won a lot of Super Bowls. And he was an innovator and he was a creator and he was able to motivate in a jokingly comical way of being able to poke fun at things when they were there, but also have great wisdom along the way. So just a lot of fortunate people and they provided a lot of motivation for me to want to carry that out. And it's been a lot of fun to kind of mold my coaching after those guys. And speaking of football greats, Coach Brahm also tells us about the legacy and impact the late Leroy Keyes left on Purdue. I think we were all very fortunate to get a chance to know Leroy and his family. Leroy was a special Purdue icon that we all had a chance to be around. And not only was an unbelievably fantastic generational player, but a great person and somebody who took pride in his Purdue background and gave back to the university and gave back to numerous people that needed inspiration and advice and he was always there for that. So we thank him for everything he did. He truly made a difference. He truly did special things and his family are very special as well. So we want to continue to honor him by the way that we play and the way we conduct ourselves. But Leroy was special and we were fortunate to be around him. Is there any advice in particular that you remember from him or any good stories you can share? Well, I think Leroy had a great personality. He was able to get along with everybody. He was able to connect with everybody on a certain level and not many people can do it that naturally. So that was a special trait he had that I always remember is the engaging smile, the ability to relate to all people from all walks of life. And that's not easy to do. But he did it naturally. It was genuine. It was real. And because of that anytime you got a chance to be around him, you connected with him and you respected all the great work that he has done. During my research for this interview, it was clear how the players feel about Coach Brahm. One player said Coach Brahm would run through a wall for us and that makes us want to run through a wall for him. How does that make you feel about this football community? Well, it definitely makes me feel great. I think when you play football, it's a sport that you have to have some passion. You have to have some fire. You have to have some inner drive and intensity to want to go out there and win. It's just that's how the sport is. And no matter what position you play and even as a coach, I think it's important that your players understand that you're ready to coach and you're ready to go out there and support them and help them try to win. So I think it works both ways. It's always important that the coaching staff show their desire to want to go win and to help these young men on our team go out there and do something special that they work really hard for. And I think our players work extremely hard. They're great young men. They conduct themselves well off the field. They strive to do well in the classroom. They want to make a difference in this community and for Purdue. So we want them to have success. And a lot of times when they have that success, they feel good about themselves and motivates them to want to work even more. Motivates them to want to do even more for their community and make this a special place. So I think all Purdue fans know that we can get this thing rolling. It can be a lot of fun and very special for a lot of people. But it's not just all about athletics. Coach stresses the academic rigor of gaining a Purdue degree and how Purdue prepares players for a life outside of football. That's a big goal of ours is to make sure our guys have a path that they feel good about and that they're ready to attack when they're done playing football. And academics will always be stressed and athletics will make sure we help them achieve their goals there. But off the field it's important too. So spiritual growth, social growth, all those things matter to us. We have a plan when they get here for it. We have the people and the personnel here to help execute that. We want all of our guys to lead a balanced life and develop relationships outside of football that can help them beyond the game. And while we are hopeful that all of our guys get a chance to play in the NFL and eventually football is going to be done with. So they need to have a plan of attack. And that's one of the great things I think that happens here is that happens with our health that really the support system and the academic staff and the rich tradition in academics is already there. And I know they know that a degree in their hand from Purdue will help them beyond the game. And a lot of relationships that are developed on campus are going to be around some special people that are going to achieve a lot and have a lot of success. So they got to make sure they continue to do that networking. It's a team effort. And I think the whole Purdue team is important to help achieve that. But we see great success with life after football. And a lot of these guys haven't mapped out before they're even done playing. And they feel good about their path moving forward. So that's always heartwarming to see the success that they have and the path that they already know that they're ready to embark on. And of course, things are different now when it comes to college sports. Due to the NCAA's ruling on name image likeness that went into effect July 1st this year, it's opening the doors for college athletes to make money from selling the rights to their name images and likeness. Here's Coach Braum's take on NIL. The NIL stuff that our players are going to be able to hopefully benefit from, we're all for. I think players work extremely hard. They put in a lot of time and effort to have fun playing the game and maybe even play beyond and have success with that. And they want to take advantage of that. So I think that we'll be able to tell in a year or two how this plays out. I think to this point, you've seen a lot of good things happen. There's been a lot of players that make it a little more opportunities than others. But they want to somehow get their teammates involved. And they want to somehow take care of those guys as much as they can. You've seen others contribute thanks to charity. I do think this will help some of these young men grow up faster and understand how to profit and make a living once they're done playing. And so I see some positives with it. And I think the community and people that love football will be able to interact with our players and develop relationships now that hopefully last beyond the game. As many of you football fans out there know, on September 4th, Purdue's iconic Ross Age Stadium will host fans at 100% capacity for the first time in more than a year. The Boilermakers will play Oregon State under the lights in their season opener. Coach Brom tells us why the fans at Purdue are such a huge part of the game day experience. We're so excited to see Ross Age come back to life this fall. What are you most excited about for this upcoming season? We're definitely looking forward to getting the fans back. And you know, that's what makes college football is the atmosphere, the spirit of the game, the bands, the tailgating, student section, all those things really are what make the game fun to play and our players feed off of that. It's always great to play at home. You know, it'll feel great to be back in the stadium with everyone there supporting us and cheering us on. And hopefully that'll motivate us to, you know, to play well and try to get a W. He also tells us why this season stands out after the team played the 2020 season in an empty stadium. Well, we've all faced some adversity the last year and some of that continues. But I think getting back to some sense of normalcy is going to be a lot of fun. And while we still need to take some precautions, I think that fans want to be a part of it and players want their families and friends to be able to come to games. And you want to be able to enjoy the moments together. And hopefully those are victories. But sometimes when things don't go as well, it's great to have people there supporting you and backing you up. But, you know, college football and football in general is a sport, is a game. And when you can get fans at the games, making noise and being excited and showing enthusiasm, it really, you know, creates a great Saturday afternoon. So those are fun, and we want to get back to having fun on Saturdays. What do you think that the Purdue, you know, Boilermaker spirit, like how does that affect the team and that energy that comes into the field when they're playing? We think our fans are special. I think, you know, the student turnout is always tremendous. They're in the stands. They're waiting for action. They're cheering the team on. And that motivates, you know, all of our players and even coaches to want to do as well as they can. So when special things happen, and special victories happen, they're a big part of it. You know, I think they feel that as well. And we want them to. So our student body and our base here is a big nucleus of people that are trying to achieve academic success, but they enjoy sports and they enjoy going out and watching a fun game on Saturday afternoons. And if we can make a special for them, then they come out even more and they're more excited. So it is a full team effort beyond just our football team. And that's what makes playing at Purdue very special as well is we have a great turnout of students that are excited about Saturday afternoons and getting with their friends and having a good time, but enjoying a competitive brand of football. And, you know, when you can pull out big victories, it makes it a whole lot more fun. Are there any big victories in particular that have been your favorite throughout the years? Well, we've had some good ones here in the last so many years. Of course, Ohio State was a great victory for our fans. And if Rowan Tyler Trin and his inspiration was very meaningful, we feed out at home. We beat Boston College when they were ranked and feed at home. There's been a lot of big wins that we feel good about, but we want more. And we want to continue to build on that. And I think we'll have great opportunities this year to get that done at home and on the road. And we need to use that as motivation to want to achieve that. But it's always going to be special when you when you beat some traditionally powerhouse big 10 teams. And when your fans and your parents and your friends are there to enjoy it, it makes it more special. So what about the team's goals for this season? How will they achieve them? Well, we have worked to do, but our guys have worked extremely hard since the end of last season. They understand that the college football is competitive. Our conference is always going to be competitive. Our non-conference schedule is always going to be challenging. But that's what makes it fun is we've got to work hard and we've all got to do our part from the head coach to our coaching staff to our players all the way down and put in the work in the off season, put in the work during the practice week. And then hopefully, you know, game day you go out there and you're able to cut it loose and have fun and go make some plays. So, you know, this is what college football is all about. And every year you've got to prove your worth. You've got to prove that you really want to win and mean something to you and that you're going to, you know, go above and beyond to help your team win. Coach Braum shares his thoughts on their upcoming 2021 season schedule, including that special game against Northwestern at Wrigley Field. I know our Chicago alumni base is super excited about the team playing Northwestern at Wrigley Field in November. How do you guys feel about that upcoming game? I think our team is excited to play in that game, probably our fans even more so because it is going to be a historic great venue to play at Wrigley Field against Northwestern who's had a couple really good years. You know, it'll be a lot of fun. And I think that the Purdue faithful, the black and gold will show up and they'll be in full force and they'll be looking forward to making a full day of activities, you know, enjoyable for them and their families. And our team is going to want to go out and put on a good show and hopefully get a win. So it'll be exciting day. It's the second to last game of the regular season. So the weather, we'll see how it plays out, but it'll be football weather and it'll be football up in Chicago and a great historic venue. Are there any other games in particular that you're looking forward to most on the schedule? Well, every game is important to us. I think when you look at our schedule this year, we played a lot of great venues on the road. Of course, we go to Notre Dame for the first time in a while, which I'm sure our fans will be excited about that. And they're playing at a high level right now. So that'll be a great opportunity. We go to Ohio State, which is another team that's playing at a very high level. And, you know, it'll be a hopefully an entertaining day that maybe we can, you know, go out there and do something special. And then it even goes from there at Iowa and Nebraska at Wrigley Field. Those are, you know, five road games that really will have great atmosphere, will have a great turnout. And we look forward to getting proved fans there. I'm thinking we need to take another podcast road trip and check out the Boilermakers play at Wrigley in November. Who's in? Anyway, I really enjoyed my chat with Coach Brom. I enjoy all of my conversations on this podcast. To be transparent, I was a bit nervous to interview a big name coach like him, but it was wonderful to see how down to earth and humble he really is. And Coach Brom sums it up perfectly about being immersed in this Boilermaker community. We really have tried to be a big part of the Purdue community. And that's, you know, we like I said, we live right across the street of campus. So we're able to come over here whenever we want. We bought a golf cart a couple of years ago, just to be able to come over here and drive around and see everything and tour the campus. And my son likes to any visitors we have here, give them a tour of campus and use the golf cart, which I hope is legal to do that. And that's been a whole lot of fun. It's just kind of, you know, from the Catholic Church of St. Thomas Aquinas over there, which we attend and all the beautiful buildings, the engineering building, the business building, president's office, you know, going to Mackie and the baseball and softball fields and soccer fields, tennis center, we've kind of tried to do all of it. You know, the beautiful golf courses really, it's just a nice big campus with a lot of academically driven individuals that want to get a degree and move forward in life and have success and, you know, being able to throw football in there has been fun. And it's a safe place to live, with a lot of really special loot collar people. And that's kind of what we're about, is we don't need any extra pizzazz or ribbon on top of anything. You know, I still have my Honda Accord and have to hear about that. And that's always fun to just be a normal person and enjoy life. When you say you're a normal person, do people come up to you on campus and talk to you? Is Brady kind of the gatekeeper there? You know, probably not as much as you think. I think everybody relates well with everyone and, you know, you can go around the community and run into some people that want to talk. But for the most part, it's been great. And we enjoy getting out into a lot of different activities. As for Brady, let's just say he hopes to have a future that includes replacing the title as Boilermaker fan and football team ambassador to Boilermaker student. Do you see him wanting to go to Purdue in the future? Well, that probably is a go at his. I told him you need to get those grades up. If you want to go to Purdue, this isn't just an easy place to get in. So he's got a little work to do there. He loves the people here and he spends as much time as his building as I do, which is a lot, really just as a people person. So I'm hopeful that, you know, he'll figure out the exact path that he wants and without question, Purdue can help get him there. Be sure to check out our full interview with Coach Prom on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash Purdue University. And if you'd like to cheer on our Boilermakers this year, go to PurdueSports.com for more information on football tickets. Thanks for listening to This is Purdue. For more information on this episode, visit our website at purdue.edu slash podcast. There you can head over to your favorite podcast app to subscribe and leave us a review. And as always, Boiler up.