The media was buzzing last night when a report from John Meyer of WTAE indicated that the Pitt Panthers hired Tom Bradley as their new coach on Wednesday night.
That report was refuted by the school and elsewhere as the Panthers have not offered their head coaching position to any of their candidates.
As things are shaping up on Thursday, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has emerged as the consensus “likely hire” but Tulsa’s Todd Graham remains the top choice of athletic director Steve Pederson and quite possibly the administration.
For the past few days, my information has been consistent on Graham being Pederson’s top choice and sources close to the situation told Inside Pittsburgh Sports this morning that Graham has yet to close the door on coming to Pitt, which has the process still “fluid”, according to sources.
The Panthers conducted a phone interview with Graham on Tuesday, while Pederson and Graham held a one-on-one meeting on Wednesday. Paul Zise of the Post-Gazette reports that the meeting took place in Atlanta.
Pitt has faced tough obstacles in trying to lure Graham who is seeking close to $2 million per season but the school continues to make a run at him before moving on with Bradley or a sleeper candidate.
Bradley is scheduled to interview with UCONN on Friday but will take the Pitt job over UCONN.
Sal Sunseri who interviewed for the position is not expected to emerge as a legitimate candidate but Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst remains a potential “sleeper candidate”, if the brass goes against Bradley and Graham decided not to take the job.
Meanwhile, we’ve continued to hear Teryl Austin’s name for about a week now. Another name to keep an eye on in the process.
