Report: Purdue Not Likely To Get Meeting with P.J. Fleck

Tonight might not be the last game that P.J. Fleck is on the sidelines for Western michigan. That also means the boat may not be rowing to West Lafayette. Dan Wolken at USA Today Sports is reporting that Purdue is NOT expecting to get a meeting with Fleck after tonight’s MAC Championship game:

Purdue officials now believe it is unlikely they will get a sitdown with Western Michigan coach PJ Fleck and are prepared to move onto their next target, Western Kentucky's Jeff Brohm, according to a person with knowledge of the process.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the matter.

Of course, this is nothing definite, as we have been saying all along, but it is what we are reporting because it is pretty newsworthy. The article later states that Fleck may change his mind, but it also states that Western Kentucky is preparing to move on from Brohm, as they are expecting to lose him.

This could change at any time, as Purdue may still reach out to him after tonight. We don’t know anything for sure. Even the good folks at Gold and Black Illustrated, who are far more connected than we are, don’t know anything for sure. They are also reporting Brohm, Fleck, and Calhoun as a top three while repeating the USA Today report:

Fleck has been generally viewed as Purdue's first choice due to his success this season and his reputation as a recruiter, but that might not be accurate, sources have indicated over the course of days and weeks.

Purdue is known to be very interested in Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm, as well as Air Force coach Troy Calhoun. Skip Holtz of Louisiana Tech has interviewed for the position, too, as have others.

Brohm plays tomorrow at noon against Louisiana Tech for the Conference USA championship.

As a final note, the player from the Life in a Welfare State series back in September contacted us via direct message on Twitter. He says through his contacts he has heard that WKU believes the deal is done and will be announced Monday. Again, I am not saying this is anything concrete. I have never said anything is concrete here and never will. This is a third-hand rumor that I must report anonymously (at his request), making it tenuous at best, but that is what we were told, so stay tuned.

I admit, all those caveats make it very week, but we will see. I will love for all this to be wrong ebcause I personally prefer Fleck, but Brohm is far from a terrible choice. I think Fleck is a better recruiter and more balanced between offense and defense, while Brohm brings a wonderful offense with questionable defense. Still, with the right assistants Brohm can build a hell of an offense and have just enough defense to wins some games.