Drew Brees is Getting into Coaching By Helping Purdue at the Citrus Bowl

It’s been a wild ride of late for Purdue football. They won the Big Ten West, played admirably for most of the game, but ultimately lost to Michigan. Shortly after that, they lost head coach Jeff Brohm to Louisville. The Boilermakers quickly replaced him with Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters.

It’s been a trip. And we’re only 15 days into December. But we’re not close to being done telling the Purdue football story. Because here’s a new twist with Purdue legend (and retired star NFL quarterback) Drew Brees is throwing his hat into the coaching ring:

Maybe Purdue is looking to catch lightning in a bottle here, but I’m digging the hire. And I’m vibing with Brees starting off as an interim assistant. Oftentimes, star players and personalities get handed coaching opportunities and it turns out they’re in way over their heads. But this looks like it could a modest start for a post-playing career that Brees could probably excel in (should he choose to do so).

At minimum, it can’t go worse than his experience as an in-game broadcast analyst for Notre Dame games. Or studio analyst on NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage. And it definitely can go better than life as a betting app pitch man. And if he can sell recruits as well as he sold getting struck by lightning, then maybe he’ll help Purdue after all.

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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