Here's What Jeff Brohm Said After Positive COVID-19 Test Was Confirmed

Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm has to work from home this week after contracting the COVID-19 virus, and he will miss Saturday's home opener against Iowa. People reached out from all over the country to wish him well.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue coach Jeff Brohm wasn't feeling away, and was afraid something might be up. And when a daily antigen test came back Sunday, he was test again to confirm that positive COVID-19 result. That, too, came back positive.

Because of that, Brohm will have to isolate at home and won't be able to be on the sideline on Saturday when Purdue finally opens its season against Iowa at Ross-Ade Stadium.

This is different from the high-profile coach of Alabama coach Nick Saban last week. Saban had a first positive test and went home, but every other test was negative. That first result was false, and Saban wasn't sick. Several people reached out publicly to wish Brohm well, including Indiana coach Tom Allen, who said he was praying for Brohm and his family, and wished him well. Allen lost a dear friend to COVID earlier this year.

Brohm met with the media via a Zoom conference call on Monday. So did Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski (CLICK HERE for his interview), and he talked about the testing protocols prescribed by the Big Ten for all 14 teams.

Here's what Brohm said:

JEFF BROHM: I want to confirm that I have tested positive for the virus. It's unfortunate, and it's not ideal, but unfortunately it's the way the world works today. I think our team is in great position now to move forward. We've had a lot of good work up to this point, a lot of good practices and I think our team is ready to play. I applaud our coaching staff for the work they've done to get our guys ready, and we'll continue to proceed forward.

Once I found out I was positive I immediately isolated and have tried to follow all CDC and medical guidelines and will continue to do that, but I will be able to work remotely as much as I can until I'm allowed back with the team and will continue to do that this week and assist our coaches and players to make sure we're continuing to get ready and having another great week of practice before a great opponent in Iowa. That's what we've got.

We've got a great opponent in Iowa who had a great year last year. They're hard-nosed, they're disciplined, they play hard. They had big wins last year against Iowa State, against Minnesota, against USC in the bowl game, and they're a team we're going to have to play well to win, and I know our team has worked hard to get to that point. Now it's really about going and competing and playing and laying it on the line and that's how it's going to be this year.

Every week is going to be different. Things will come up for our team and other teams throughout the season. We've got to adapt to it and move forward and we'll continue to do that, and I think that no matter what happens to our team as we go, we're going to be ready to play. It's about going out there and competing and laying it on the line and having fun playing the game.

From there I'll open it up to any questions, as well, and answer those.

• Q. Jeff, as far as the game Saturday, will you be on the sidelines, and if not, how will this all work?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I've asked that question numerous times to try to make that work. It's looking like that probably won't happen. I'm not going to give up hope on any of that, but following the guidelines set forth, I don't think I'll be able to do that.

I will continue to coach throughout the week and be in communication with our coaches constantly and our players, and then when it comes to game time, Brian Brohm will handle the game-time decisions and will be the acting head coach on that day if I were not able to be there with the team.

• Q. Just to confirm, when you say you tested positive for the virus, this is the second test that confirmed the first one, correct?

JEFF BROHM: Yeah, so we took the daily rapid test -- let's see, what is today, Monday? We took that on Sunday morning and took the PCR test immediately after that and got the results of that last night and it confirmed a positive test.

• Q. Is everybody on the roster healthy? Do you expect everybody to be in action on Saturday?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I think we're pretty close to having everybody ready. There will be a few game-time decisions on a couple guys that I probably would rather not talk about at this point, but we do have about two or three guys that will be game-time decisions.

• Q. You never want to put too much on one game, but just how important is this opening game for you this year do you think?

JEFF BROHM: Well, it's extremely important. I think we're looking forward to playing a great opponent in Iowa. This is a team that we're going to have to play well to win. We're going to have to find a way to beat them at their own game, which is playing roles and discipline and not turning the ball over and not making mistakes. This is a team that's going to control the football, not give you a lot of possessions. We're going to have to find ways to get turnovers, and this will be a tough contest. We were fortunate enough in the first two years to hit some big plays over the top against Iowa to find a way to win. Last year they did a much better job against us preventing that, even though we snuck in a few here and there, but we're going to have to be way more consistent on offense and we're going to have to find ways to shut their running game down, make them punt and get more possessions in order for us to win, but I do know that this will be a great test to see how we stack and measure up because this is one of the best teams in our conference.

• Q. Jeff, as you go through this, how confident are you in the Big Ten's plans to play eight games in eight weeks?

JEFF BROHM: Actually I'm very confident. This has been unfortunate. We've had good results. The daily testing I think our players, we've had great success rate on that. Unfortunately it got me, and it's something that we're going to have to deal with. But there are going to be a few things flare up here and there, but I think as far as testing our guys daily, having the best medical procedures in college football set up for our guys in order to play football, I think we're going about as good as anybody right now in that. So I feel confident, and I applaud the Big Ten for the ability to get this daily testing going.

• Q. As a follow-up, do you have any idea or can you give us any sense as to the scope of how contact tracing around you might impact the game on Saturday?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I'm not really for sure exactly what you're asking. I know what it comes to contact tracing, a lot of this daily testing has been put in to try to help eliminate some of the contact tracing within our building, by the fact that we are getting tested daily. They think that sometimes this rapid testing can catch the virus before it starts to spread, whether that's fully true or not I'm not for sure. But we've got to still take precautions, and we are in our building right now. There have been things pop up here and there throughout the last month or two that we've had to be very cautious about. We're going to continue to do that, so while we still do have the daily rapid testing, we have to do some precautions within our building to make sure that even with whatever contact tracing that each state has, which as far as I know that's how it's been determined, each state is different, we've got to be very cautious in who is around who for a long, extended period of time.

• Q. What are the kind of concerns when it comes to the false positives, especially late in the week and on the eve of the game? This is maybe for Mike and for Jeff. Is there a desire at all to eliminate some of those game day testing or the Friday testing to -- I guess what's kind of your concerns possibly with late week false positives?

JEFF BROHM: I would say this: As far as -- I feel like the rapid testing has gone very well for our football team, and from what I'm being told, it's about 98 percent accurate. In my case, I did have symptoms. I knew there was probably something going on with me, and they caught it right away, and then it was confirmed in a PCR test. I don't know if we have had any false positives to this point on our team. I know it can happen, but I think the fact that we're able to PCR test right after any positive test, that has been official.

Now, you are correct, once it gets to game day if something like that happens you are not able to do the PCR test, that is a concern, but I think at this point it's better to be safe than sorry, and we want to make sure we take care of the health and safety of our players first and foremost while we're continuing to work hard to try to win.

• Q. Jeff, if you could just help us with the chronology, when did you start to feel symptoms? What kind of symptoms were you feeling and how are you feeling right now?

JEFF BROHM: Well, for a few days before the positive test, I was abnormally tired and exhausted and I just thought that I was just tired from work. So I didn't really know for sure what was happening. But it really wasn't until Saturday did it kind of really start to kick in, and that's when the cold chills and the sweating and the body aches and a little bit of the chest tightness, really all the symptoms that you hear about took place, and I knew I was probably not in good shape right then and probably would have a positive test the next day we tested, and did.

So really now it's just about getting healthy. I think that in the next couple days hopefully I'll be over all this. Right now I have the normal symptoms that you hear about, and I think sometimes you just kind of have to -- from my understanding, get a little more rest than you're used to and hope that pounding the fluids and taking whatever medication you need gets you back to normal. But unfortunately it got me, and now I've just got to recuperate as fast as I can.

• Q. What do you imagine Saturday is going to be like for you not being able to be on the sidelines?

JEFF BROHM: Well, it's not going to be very fun and it's not something I -- this is bad timing. You work all year long, our players do, our coaches, to play the season. It's an abbreviated season. We've got a great opponent in Iowa coming in, so yeah, I'd love to be at the game and be with the team. I've asked numerous questions to see if that could happen, but I'm not optimistic that that's going to happen based on the rules that we have, which I will follow all the guidelines and the rules that we have.

But I'm confident that our coaches have done a great job to this point. We've been in collaboration, working together to put a plan together. Our players have worked very hard, and now it's about going out and playing, and I don't really think one person makes a team, whether it's a coach or a player. It's a combination of everybody working together, so I think our team will respond and go out there and play hard and play well.

• Q. Jeff, in the Big Ten protocols, it says there's a 21-day layout period for student-athletes. Is it a standard for coaches? Is it a matter of you just having to test negative a bunch of times to come back or is there more to it than that?

JEFF BROHM: Well, as far as I know, and this is new to all of us, but as far as what I've been told, it's the CDC guideline of 10 days from your positive test or your first symptom is what I think they go by. I think the 21 days is for players, getting back into participation, into making sure that they go through the proper channels to make sure that they're in shape and physically ready to step back on the field. So I think the 21 days is for players.

• Q. You had said Brian will take over as kind of acting head coach; will he call the plays, also?

JEFF BROHM: Yeah, so Brian will call the plays come game day, and Coach JaMarcus Shephard will be in collaboration with him throughout the week, and even our whole offensive staff. I think we've put together the plan for the most part up until this point. I think it's just a matter of getting our guys in the right position to go out there and play. Brian has been with me the last four years. As a former quarterback, I think he knows how I think, and I think he'll go out there as well as our offensive staff and they'll do a good job of putting our players in the best position to succeed.

• Q. Contact tracing with your staff, anyone else affected as far as you know?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I'd rather not get into all that. I really don't know what I can say. We've had a few flare-ups here and there from a staff perspective, but right now we're proceeding forward and we're making the necessary adjustments along the way, and anything that pops up between now and game day we'll continue to do that. But we have plans set to proceed forward from now.

• Q. Coach Brohm, what are your plans for game day? Are you going to leave it entirely up to Brian? Do you expect to coach via phone? Are you going to be play calling from home at all?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I wish I could do those things. If I could, I would. Right now I'm going to continue to coach throughout the week remotely and just kind of be in contact with our coaches and our players and make sure that we're continuing to proceed forward daily. But I have great confidence in our coaches. They can carry out the plan. Our players can go out there and play hard and cut it loose come game day, and they'll do a great job without me there on Saturday if I'm not able to be there.

As far as right now, it's really about just putting the best plan together daily to go out there and practice, staying on top of those things, adjusting as the week goes on, and then come game day, if I'm not allowed to be at the game, which is what I've been told to this point, our coaches will take it over and they'll do a great job and our players in my opinion will go out there and respond and play hard.

• Q. How does your positive test affect the team's momentum before week one?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I don't think it affects their momentum whatsoever. Our guys are ready to play. I think everyone across the country in the Big Ten to ready to play football. They've gone through a lot. Our players as well as probably some other teams have done a great job of sacrificing to make sure they stay healthy, getting an opportunity to play, and to this point we've done a great job with that. Our players have responded and they have made extreme sacrifices to be able to continue to play as a team and make sure that we're not missing many people, and that can always change and you've got to continue to harp on it and make sure we're doing a good job with it. Unfortunately it got me and we have to adjust, but I'm just a coach. We have many other coaches on our team and they do a great job working with our guys on a daily basis and they'll do a great job come game day, so I have great confidence that our team will respond and go out there and play hard against a good Iowa football team.

• Q. Just curious what your range of emotions have been over the last several months. You talk about the sacrifices the team has made and that you have made obviously along the way to not having a season to having a season and now testing positive for COVID. Just where are you at mentally as you deal with getting ready for Saturday and not being able to be there with your team and everything that's gone into this whole process?

JEFF BROHM: You know, initially, I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed that the bug bit me and kind of felt like I had let the team down a little bit. But as you guys know, this virus is a mystery, and it somehow catches you when you don't know it is, and when it does, you just have to deal with it and move forward. I thought I had done a good job of protecting myself, but obviously not good enough.

You know, it's one of those things that you learn from it and you move on and you get healthy. Our players have done a great job, and that's what's been so -- energized me is that our guys have really taken this seriously and they really do want to play and they really do want to go out there and compete and get an opportunity to play the game they love. Us as coaches try to do our part to help them achieve our goals and I know hour assistant coaches will continue to do that. We're looking forward to playing football just like everyone across the country. This is a great game. It's a lot of fun to watch, it's a lot of fun to compete. We've got great fans here and a great community, and we want to go out there as a team and represent them by playing the game the way it should be played, and that's with all-out effort and playing to the end and giving it everything you have, and I know that come Saturday our team will do that.

• Q. As far as Saturday goes, over the years via social media we've seen some good pregame speeches by you. Any thoughts to coming in via Zoom or another platform and giving the pregame speech before your team takes the field?

JEFF BROHM: Well, I try not to predetermine those things, and to be honest with you, some of the better speeches I think I've had we've ended up losing the game. So I don't know if it really means as much as I thought it did.

You know what, I like to bring a little energy and passion to game day. When you step on the field you kind of have to turn the volume up, each person individually, so if I don't think our team has shown that in warm-ups, I occasionally will try to get it out of them. But you know what, it's the first game of the year; I don't think our team will need it. I think our coaches and players will be ready to play, and I'm looking forward to watching them.

• Q. Obviously you're not the first college head coach to contract the virus; do you have any idea how you may have come into contact with it?

JEFF BROHM: You know what, I really don't know for sure exactly. You know, it's something that -- some people in my family did contact the virus. When that happened I isolated immediately and continued to isolate, and unfortunately it got me.

I don't really know for sure. I thought I'd done a very good job of isolating from anyone that I thought had the virus, but come Saturday, I started to feel all the effects that you feel and Sunday tested positive. Unfortunately I didn't win that one.

• Q. Obviously you're not the only college head coach to have this; based on your experiences and everything that you've dealt with, especially over the last couple of days, what's your message to college football and the importance of understanding how easily this virus can spread?

JEFF BROHM: You know, I think that's the one thing about this virus that really puts a stranglehold on a lot of us is how easy it does spread, and when you talk about masks, when you talk about keeping socially distanced, when you talk about making sure you're careful where you go and who you're around and the amount of people and you're careful about when you're indoors especially doing that - when you're outdoors I think it's a little safer - you have to take those precautions. Until a vaccine becomes available, we're kind of stuck in this predicament. I think each person needs to do their part. Each person needs to understand that whatever they believe or don't believe, it's important that you not only protect yourselves but the others around you. We all need to do that, especially those that are in an office building. You've got to be careful if you're going to be in an office building with people that you're not around them for a long period of time, you're wearing a mask as well as they are, and you're very cautious when those things happen, and if anyone has any symptoms whatsoever, you need to isolate away from people and work remotely.

So that's the main thing I've learned is this thing is highly contagious, and while I'm not a doctor and understand how all those things work, I firmly believe it's highly contagious, and I've learned that by just watching this virus develop amongst a lot of others around me and then now taking it over on me.

The transcript portion of this story was provided by Purdue University Athletics.