A new entry in the "you can't make this stuff up" folder: Drew Brees has entered into the coaching sphere, and he'll have a familiar program greeting him.
The legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback has signed on to be an interim assistant coach at his alma mater Purdue. The program announced the news Thursday morning.
That means Brees' first job in the coaching sphere will be helping the Boilermakers prepare to face down LSU in the Citrus Bowl.
"I am extremely excited to work with our team over the next few weeks as we prepare for the Citrus Bowl," Brees said in a news release. "I see it not only as an opportunity to coach and mentor this group of young men, but represent all the former Purdue players that care so much about our program."
Brees will be brought on to assist in the coaching change, and he can also participate in recruiting efforts, after head coach Jeff Brohm opted to take the head coaching job at the University of Louisville. Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters will step up as the replacement after an 8-4 season that ended with the first Big Ten West title in program history and a 59-31 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game.
The hiring comes at an interesting time for Brees, who retired from the NFL after the 2020 season. He spent one year as a studio analyst for Sunday Night Football and a play-by-play announcer for Notre Dame football, but stepped away from those roles prior to the 2022 season. He's since become a major mover in the professional pickleball arena, but hasn't made any inroads toward a potential return to football as a coach -- until now.
Brees, of course, played four stellar years for the Boilermakers from 1997-2000 and was 4th in the Heisman voting in his final season before being selected by the L.A. Chargers with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2000 draft.
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The Purdue team Brees will now help prepare will face a program that successfully navigated its own coaching change in LSU. The Brian Kelly era, fittingly, began in the Caesars Superdome this season with a loss to Florida State, but included its own unlikely divisional title before a blowout loss in the SEC Championship game. The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl will kick off at noon (central) on Jan. 2 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando Florida. LSU is currently going off as 14.5-point favorites, a line that's widened significantly since it debuted at 6.5.
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