In a wide-ranging interview on Louisville sports radio's "Deener Show," Vince Marrow, the former beloved Kentucky Wildcats assistant who's now Jeff Brohm's general manager for Louisville football, said, among many things, he's ready for war with his old employer.
While proclaiming he's "not Jesus Christ," Marrow offered several nuggets about his intrastate move between the two heated Commonwealth rivals.
"I've got a lot of respect for Jeff, we go way back. It was a situation where I wanted to come work for a good friend to try to get on the same page in recruiting and go try to win a national championship," said Marrow, who had been Mark Stoops's longest-tenured assistant and had enjoyed a seven-figure salary with the Wildcats for several years. "That's basically what it really is. I'm excited to be in Louisville. I am not lying, when I would go to games when we would play them, I loved the passion of their fans. They used to say a lot of stuff to me and I used to laugh, but I was like, 'Man, they remind me of fans in the NFL when you go in some of them stadiums and they just got a lot of juice and they're very fired up.'"
Marrow told the hosts he'll meet the Louisville team on Monday and indicated his allegiance already has switched to Cardinal red.
"One thing about me, man: Once that contract was signed, it's war. We're going to be in some battles and I know that," he said.
While Marrow didn't blast Kentucky, which has, well, stooped to new lows under Stoops after winning just a single SEC game in 2024, he emphasized his belief in Brohm, the Louisville program and what he feels is a true chance to go win a national championship.
"I'm letting it be known. We are going to do some serious damage in bringing in the right players, getting a roster that's like an NFL roster that's going to win and win in this league," said the Ohio native. "And, then, let the chips fall where they may. We get in the playoffs, we're going to try to go win that because I will say that Jeff has a good staff. I admire a lot of those coaches. This is now like an NFL situation where you have a front office guy and you have the coach and you have player personnel. We're all going to want to bring great players here and go win a championship.
"I'm going to turn the roster, recruiting, transfer portal, you will be the guy. I'm not coming here acting like I'm Jesus Christ or anything like that. I'm just coming in to (say), 'Let's all work together. I'm fired up.' My role will be over those three things. I do a lot more, do community raising money with donors and people that I know. People that I'm going to get to know. There's a lot of things really that I'm going to do."
But it's the chance to do them with Brohm, not escaping Kentucky Marrow explained, that drove his decision. The two had long discussed working together, he said.
"When the NFL guy put out that Jeff is the best quarterback developer in college football, him and Brian (Brohm). So what I sell, I'm telling you, really is a top 10 coach who's the best offensive mind, one of the best offensive minds in college football," Marrow said. "I deal with the NFL a lot, there's a lot of GMs that really admire Jeff. Selling that, selling the city ... I've gotta be honest, being in Lexington 13 years, it was great, I love Lexington. It's kind of like not that I was brainwashed but you get locked in to, 'Hey, this is Lexington.' ...
"When I took over and started to recruit in (Louisville), I was like, 'Wow, this place really got a lot going for it.' But then when this last time I recruited, I really looked at and we had talked about it before me and Jeff, (saying) one of these days we're going to work together. We're going to do something very special. I just think Louisville is a great city to sell .. but I told my brother, with Jeff Brohm I can recruit to him and it's a lot to offer."
But the Wildcats, who have lost a whopping 20 games in the past three seasons, often left Marrow with a difficult task as the head of Kentucky's recruiting efforts.
"Look, man, sometimes I didn't have that much to sell on certain years [at Kentucky] and still brought in four stars, high four stars, but this is easy, this is going to be real easy to sell, and I think I can do it with the best," he said.
Marrow said he believed Louisville to be a true College Football Playoff contender and shared that Brohm recently told Marrow that he represented the missing piece.
"I just really feel that they're on the brink, right there on the cusp of kicking that door in," Marrow said. "When me and him talked, he said we can do some damage and I think you'd be the missing piece."
In a rivalry that hardly needed any additional zest, Marrow's roughly 80-mile heel move has amplified matters.
For those curious? Kentucky visits Louisville for the two programs' annual 'Commonwealth Cup' rivalry in just 169 days -- Nov. 29.