Jeff Brohm details challenges of recruiting with NIL and the transfer portal

The introduction of NIL and the transfer portal has created several additional layers of responsibility for coaches to navigate, but new Louisville coach Jeff Brohm doesn’t seem overly apprehensive about either.

The way he sees it college football is always testing out new rules, and this is just the latest.

“The rules change every year, and if you sit back and think about all the things that are different than what it was in the past, yeah, it can be very challenging,” Brohm said.

The easiest way to deal with the new challenges is simply to fully embrace NIL and the transfer portal.

“The way we think of it is those are the rules, you have to adapt yourself and move forward,” Brohm said. “It’s part of the process now.”

Still, new coaches face the prospect of losing a decent chunk of their roster to the NCAA transfer portal these days.

After all, a coaching change means the players are going to have to get used to new coaches, a new system and more as is if they stay at their current program. Transferring to another program, then, isn’t that much of a change.

Still, Brohm believes there’s a place in his program for everyone.

“We’re just getting here, but in general we want to do a great job with our current players on the team,” he said. “We want to help develop them to be the very best they can be. We want to help them achieve their goals. We want to do it the right way. We want to build a relationship. We want to make sure that they trust us and understand we’re going to push them and help them to where they want to get at. If you do that, normally guys want to stay and continue to play for you.”

Louisville wants to be respectful of players’ opportunities

The one thing Brohm harped on was that he won’t cry over spilled milk if some players ultimately do want to seek a fresh start elsewhere.

“Like everything there’s going to be times where people think there’s a better opportunity somewhere else, and we want to respect that and be ready to adjust when that happens,” he said.

That’s not to say that Brohm isn’t worried about retaining players. As things stand Louisville already has some extra scholarship room to work with thanks to NIL and the transfer portal.

You don’t want to see your roster get overly depleted.

Still, he’s being as respectful as possible of anyone that might seek a transfer out.

“I think when you come in new you’re going to have probably more movement than you would normally like to have,” Brohm said. “But at the same time I do think it’s going to become very common here as we proceed forward. These guys want to get on the field, they want to play. And if they’re not given the opportunity here, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them wanting to look around to see if there’s a better option.”