Louisville and Jeff Brohm could announce a contract extension as soon as this week, according to a report from Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde.
Brohm is currently under contract through 2030 and made just shy of $6 million last season. His original contract triggered an automatic extension and raise after Brohm's 2023 debut season, in which the Cardinals won 10 games, beat No. 10 Notre Dame at home, played in the ACC Championship, and finished within the top-20 in both polls.
Louisville has gone 9-4 in each of the past two seasons, but did not seriously contend for the ACC title in either season.
“I appreciate what I’ve had to this point,” Brohm told SI. “I think our goal here is to play at the highest level, and I think we can make progress to get that done. It’s a great city, great people. Basketball has won championships at the highest level. Football hasn’t, so it’s a goal that I want to be committed to try to get that done for us.”
Details of the to-be-announced extension were not included, but it's expected to go "well beyond" Brohm's current $6 million salary plus other commitments to the program. The U of L board of trustees meets Thursday, and Brohm's contract is on the publicly-released agenda.
Rumors popped up on social media that Brohm kicked AD Josh Heird out of his office after a contentious meeting late last month. "If you believe everything that's on the internet, then you're in for a rude awakening," Heird told the Louisville Courier-Journal two weeks back.
Talks first began back in the fall, though, so it's clearly taken a while for Brohm and Louisville to agree upon a deal that makes sense for both sides.
"I do think it's more complex and more complicated than it used to be with the amount of resources that have to go to different places, whether it's ... previously it was just operational and coaching staff salaries, whatever," Heird told the paper. "And now we have a whole other line item over there that we've got to try to manage, and all of those play off of each other. And that's where we're at right now, is just trying to sort through all that."
Heird finds himself in an unenviable spot. Brohm is the king of football in the city of Louisville. Getting crossways with him would not be good for anybody. Writes Forde, a Louisville resident: "Most fans would gladly fire Heird, the AD since 2019, if need be to keep Brohm." At the same time, Heird has a fiscal responsibility to strike the best deal for U of L.
Thankfully for all involved, all signs point to a deal getting done.