Former Vols assistant named as potential option for Purdue head coaching job
A former Tennessee Vols assistant coach was named as an option this week to replace Jeff Brohm as the Purdue Boilermakers' head coach. Brohm left Purdue this week to become the new head coach at Louisville, his alma mater. Adam Rittenberg, a senior writer at ESPN who covers college football, named former Vols offensive coordinator […]
A former Tennessee Vols assistant coach was named as an option this week to replace Jeff Brohm as the Purdue Boilermakers' head coach.
Brohm left Purdue this week to become the new head coach at Louisville, his alma mater.
Adam Rittenberg, a senior writer at ESPN who covers college football, named former Vols offensive coordinator Tyson Helton this week as a potential option to replace Brohm at Purdue.
Helton, the younger brother of former USC head coach Clay Helton, served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator in 2018, which was Jeremy Pruitt's first season as the Vols' head coach.
After one season, Helton was hired as the head coach at Western Kentucky. He's found success in Bowling Green as he's experienced three winning seasons during his four years there.
Helton would seemingly be a perfect option to replace Brohm at Purdue. The former Tennessee assistant worked under Brohm for two seasons at Western Kentucky when Brohm was the Hilltopper's head coach. Helton also worked alongside Brohm for one season at UAB.
Purdue's most recent search ended with a successful WKU coach in Brohm, so why not go back? Like Brohm, Helton runs an extremely exciting offense, ranking fourth nationally in scoring (40.2 points per game) over the past two seasons. Quarterbacks Bailey Zappe and Austin Reed both have shined in his system. The 45-year-old Helton has won eight or more games in three of his four seasons, and he has made a bowl game each year. He hasn't worked in the Big Ten before but spent a season at Cincinnati and could help Purdue's recruiting/transfer efforts in the South.
Helton has some midwest recruiting experience as well as experience in the south (he's from Gainesville, FL).
Sometimes the fit just makes perfect sense. And this is certainly one of those times.
Featured image via Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
