Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head coach Jeff Brohm smiles after WKU's 45-35 win over USF in the Miami Beach Bowl on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, at Marlins Park in Miami. (Austin Anthony / photo@bgdailynews.com)

I had the chance to talk Monday with Western Kentucky football coach Jeff Brohm for the first time since the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 21.

Brohm talked about a wide variety of subjects, including the departures of Tyson Helton and Neil Callaway, the upcoming quarterback battle, Leon Allen’s health and his own upcoming contract negotiations. Here is the full conversation:

On departures of Tyson Helton and Neil Callaway to USC:

“With coach Helton and coach Callaway, we definitely appreciate all the hard work and dedication they gave our program and to our team. We wish them nothing but the best in their next stop. Those things happen. That’s part of the business. We’ll regroup and get some good guys in here to replace them, and we’ll just keep chugging along. That’s going to happen every year. Normally when you’re doing well, it’s going to happen maybe more so than other years. It’s nothing uncommon.”

On mostly keeping staff together over first two years:

“I think we had a great staff continuity, and they all got along together well. They enjoyed working with each other. Because of that, I think we meshed and got a lot out of each other individually and as a cohesive group. That all went well, but every year, things are going to come up.”

On timeline for hiring new coaches:

“I’m normally pretty patient on stuff like this, and the last thing I want to do is move too quick. January is a very fluid month. Every year, it’s more and more fluid in the coaching business. My phone’s definitely been ringing off the hook – and emails and text – of a lot of big-time people that want to be a part of it. Now it’s just a matter of making sure we get the right mix of guys that are not only well-accomplished, but guys that want to be here – that it means something to them – and that I think will fit in well with what we have as a staff. You’re always looking for people that have a great work ethic, are great teachers and care about the kids. I think we’ll be just fine.”

On if he’ll consider internal candidates:

“I’ve promoted internally the last two years, so that’s always an option. Two years ago with coach Shephard, we bumped him up. He’s done a great job. Last year with coach Ellis, we bumped him up. He’s done an excellent job. Obviously, you do as much as you can to reward the people that are here, but in the end, you’ve got to do what’s best for the team and the whole overall staff. But that’s definitely an option for sure.”

On his message to recruits after staff changes:

“I talked to them all right when it kind of broke out. Everybody has questions because you develop a relationship, but they’re all extremely committed to WKU. They sounded great over the phone. They understand the nature of the business and why things happen, and I at this point don’t have any issues whatsoever and feel like whoever has committed to come here has done it for the right reasons. I feel good about where we’re at. I think they’re all eager to be a part of our team and our program.”

On how recruits responded to him committing to WKU:

“Everyone wants to know what the head coach is going to do and who’s going to be here, and that’s natural because in the end, that’s the guy that makes the ultimate decisions. Even as a player, when I was being recruited, my dad used to tell me, ‘What your position coaches tell you is great, but it’s really what the head coach says that matters.’ I think guys understand that this is a great place. We have a lot going for us. We’ve got a young, emerging program that we’re trying to build the right way. I’m looking forward to doing that and helping that cause along. I think from recruits to players on our team, they appreciate that.”

On how long he took off after Miami Beach Bowl:

“You try to take a little bit of a break from that. I’m not going to lie, I have a notebook that I carry around with me – ideas that come up and thoughts and improvements that can be made. You have to kind of jot them down when you think of them, or otherwise you’ll possibly forget them. That’s probably been constant, but I’ve tried not to do it too much over the last couple of weeks. It has been a break that was well-needed by me and everyone around the program. I think it was a long season that you’re trying to win each and every week, and the pressure mounts every week and there’s more riding on it. The fact that we played an early bowl game gave us a little bit of a break for Christmas and New Year’s, and I tried to definitely take advantage of it.”

On moving forward with new quarterback battle:

“Obviously the quarterback position is the No. 1 position that we have to replace. Brandon’s numbers and what he was able to accomplish speak for itself, and all the credit goes to him and the hard work he put in. It’s a challenge that we’re going to have to develop the next guy. I think we have options there – more than one – that we’ve tried to bring in. Will they be as good as Brandon right off the bat? Probably not, but that’s going to be the interesting and fun part, is spending all the time needed to develop those guys – try to give them all a fair look. I think they all bring different things to the table, and we want to really get them all ready to go. Obviously you’d like to try to get a starter and get him a ton of work, but we’ve got to try to get them all ready and let the thing develop and compete itself out. I’m a big believer in game-type settings and situations, and we’re going to have to put our quarterbacks in as many of those as we can before next fall to make sure we’re ready to go. That’s going to take a planned-out, detailed method of getting that done. It can’t just be done normal practices and a normal routine you do with an experienced quarterback. We’ve got to do everything we can to put them in team settings. It’s not just throwing routes and (skeleton). We’ve got to put them in team settings as much as we can and see what they can do when people are in their face and a rush is coming at them and plays are breaking down.”

On if anyone starts atop spring depth chart at QB:

“All the guys we have bring something to the table. Nelson was our backup last year, so he’ll start the first practice getting the first rep. I think he deserves that, but all those guys will probably get equal reps. Not until probably we get very far along in it will we start to kind of dwindle it down a little bit, because to be fair to all of them, we want to give all of them a chance. That’ll take extended work and drills and different mapped-out, planned-out things to do to make sure we’re never going through the motions with them.”

On working to develop quarterbacks:

“You feel good about the work we did with Brandon and helping developing him to what he became. Now there’s new guys on the horizon that you have to find a way to coach up. You can’t just put it all on the quarterback and say, ‘We don’t have this, he can’t do that.’ Brandon couldn’t do some things at the beginning as well. We have to figure out what our guys’ strengths and weaknesses are and mold and push them along so they can become a winning quarterback. That’s definitely a position you have to try to get to perform at a high level, and if not, be a consistent, adequate performer.”

On filling holes on defense, particularly up front:

“I think we made improvements in defense. I know we spent a lot of times as coaches and players trying to do that. We were able to go from the bottom of the pack to now a little more in the middle of the pack, which is good. It’s progress. I still think we have plenty of work to do in that aspect, from adjusting scheme, to being creative, to moving guys over from offense, to getting a couple new players and additions in there, to adding some weight and mass and size and meat. All those things added up. I think we’ve been at least two-deep on defense, where we have guys that while they may not be completely elite at this point, they all can play and give us something. We have to just keep pushing those guys along. I think the addition of Jon Morris and Omar Bryant was huge for us. You can’t really tell as much, even though you could notice it some. When you get guys up there with some mass and meat, and they get some push, it make a huge difference and makes the other guys play better. … We added Chris Johnson to the mix. We’ve got to continue to develop Omar. We’ve got to get other guys we redshirted like Julien Lewis, Evan Sayner, Tyrone Horton and Heath Wiggins ready to play and in the mix. I think it all starts up front, so we’ve got to work hard to develop that position.”

On if he feels taken care of as new contract talks pick up:

“I feel fine with it. I understand how it works. Obviously I appreciate everything that’s been done for me to this point. I’m extremely happy to be here and like everything about where I’m at. When it comes to that, you kind of let the powers that be work on that and do the best they can. As a coach, you keep chugging along and do the best you can, and normally if you do that, it all takes care of itself. I feel confident that everything will work out.”

On if it’s fair to say money isn’t bottom line with him:

“Without question, it is. When you talk contracts, you don’t want to overstress that, but it is the truth. As a coach, you want to do what you can to win ballgames and develop a program and help your players have success, and if you do that, normally things will fall into place.”

On leaving his stamp on the program:

“I like the direction we’re going. Being a former quarterback and offensive guy, I want to try to build an exciting brand of football – a brand that people like to watch and see, that’s creative and does things that aren’t just by the book that everyone else does. You try to score as many points as you can, but you want the players to have fun with it and make it exciting for the fans to watch. I think it’s important to try to be entertaining. Obviously you want to win and do what you have to do, but football’s a sport, and sport is entertainment. I do take pride in that. I always look forward to being creative and trying to put my stamp on that, as far as making it fun.”

“Defensively, I was more involved this past year, and I try to help our guys as much as we can. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in what they do, but I want us all on both sides to constantly evolve and stay ahead of the curve – not just do things because they worked in the past, but to be creative and to study others and try to find even better ways to do it. I think all of our coaches have bought in now to that philosophy.”

On update on Leon Allen:

“Our main concern with Leon is we want to do what’s best for him. Right now, he’s going through a hard, long rehab process. To be honest with you, I don’t think it’s gone as smooth as he or everyone would’ve liked. There’s been a few hiccups in it. I think it’s too early to tell, the timetable. I don’t know the timetable. Obviously we’d love to find a way to get him back and to give him a chance to go out and prove himself again and prove that he’s healthy. I don’t know what the timetable is going to be. Right now, we’re just trying to get him on a consistent schedule to do his rehab and to get it as healthy as he can and put all the time into it to getting it done for himself. If we can do that, we’ll gauge where he’s at later on. But right now, he has a ways to go.”

On Taywan Taylor, Forrest Lamp looking at NFL draft:

“I’ve talked to both those guys. Both those guys had outstanding years. Because of it, they put in their paperwork to see how they project. I think they both got that back, and it told them – I don’t want to speak for them – but I’m pretty sure it recommended for both of them to come back to school. I’ve talked to both, and I feel good they’re coming back. They’re excited about next year. They understand there’s still a lot of work to do. The last thing you want to do as a player is to come out too soon. Then you’re going to make a huge mistake. I think they like it here. They like playing here, they like their teammates, and they understand they still have work to do to get better. It’s important to do everything you can to become the best you can be and maximize that before you try to take that next step, and I think they totally agree with that.”

— Zach Greenwell