WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Jeff Brohm's welcome party at Purdue was full of fanfare, with a pep band, cheerleaders, the school mascot and boosters all celebrating the arrival of the Boilermakers' new coach.
Now it's up to Brohm to inject excitement into the program and get fans back in the seats at Ross-Ade Stadium. Some wins would sure help, too.
All it took to lure Brohm away from Western Kentucky was a six-year contract worth an average of approximately $3.5 million per year, the promise of upgrades inside the program and a chance to put Purdue back on the national stage.
"Purdue to me has always been a program that plays an exciting brand of football," Brohm said. "When I was growing up, they threw the ball around. They scored points. They competed against some of the best teams in the Big Ten each and every year, and they were exciting to watch. As a fan, you like to see teams that score points and do some fun things."
That's exactly the playbook he is bringing to West Lafayette after using it to compile a 30-10 record in the last three seasons at Western Kentucky. The offense averaged 44.6 points and 526.2 yards and his quarterbacks completed 69.2 percent of their passes, threw for 356.6 yards per game and a total of 131 touchdowns.
New athletic director Mike Bobinski thought Brohm was the perfect fit at a school dubbed the "Cradle of Quarterbacks" and one that has a returning starter in David Blough.
The new style will be a stark contrast from the past four seasons under former coach Darrell Hazell and Gerad Parker, who went 0-6 as interim coach after taking over for the fired Hazell in October. In a statement before the news conference, Bobinski called Brohm "one of the most innovative offensive masterminds in college football."
Blough concurred after doing his own research during the weekend.
"I saw at the championship game and that they had 38 points with 10 minutes left in the second quarter," Blough said with a smile. "You see how they develop quarterbacks and that's exciting."
Excitement has been waning at Purdue for most of the past decade.
The Boilermakers went 9-39 during the last four seasons under Hazell and Parker, haven't been to a bowl game since 2012 and have only produced one winning season in nine years. Plus, they tied a school record by losing their fourth straight to rival Indiana less than two weeks ago. The stadium has seen its share of empty seats.
Western Kentucky said it is already beginning to search for Brohm's successor. Nick Holt will coach the Hilltopppers (10-3) in the Boca Raton Bowl against Memphis (8-4) on Dec. 20.