Jeff Brohm Louisville vs. NC State ACC Tournament 2024

Jeff Brohm Named to 2025 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List

Mark BlankenbakerJuly 7, 2025

University of Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm has been named to the Preseason Watch List for the 2025 Dodd Trophy Presented by PNC Bank. The list includes 26 of the nation’s top college football coaches.

Managed by Peach Bowl, Inc. and presented by PNC Bank, The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership, and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.

Entering his third season at Louisville, Brohm has posted a 19-8 record and has guided his teams to back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time since 2014. He led the Cardinals to a 9-4 record last season, which included the program’s first-ever win over Clemson – a 33-21 win over the No. 11 Tigers in Death Valley. He also snapped the team’s five-game losing streak to intra-state rival Kentucky with a 41-14 win in Lexington.

Returning to his alma mater in 2023, Brohm guided the Cards to a 10-4 record and the school’s first appearance in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. Louisville defeated a pair of nationally ranked opponents that season, defeating No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 20 Duke – both at L&N Stadium.

In two seasons, Brohm has seen seven players drafted in the National Football League Draft, including quarterback Tyler Shough, who was taken in the second round by New Orleans.

The watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., taking into consideration each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2023 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR).

Coaches named to this year’s preseason watch list must have an APR higher than 980. Additionally, coaches in the first year with their current teams were not included as they were ineligible to receive The Dodd Trophy until their second year with their program.