I'm guessing this will still get done, but for now, WTAE seems to be the only source reporting the story that Tom Bradley is definitely headed to Pitt.
WTAE, says that while it's not a done deal, Bradley will be the head coach:
Penn State defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Tom Bradley will be named the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh, WTAE Channel 4 Action Sports' John Meyer has confirmed.
There was no indication of when the move will become official, but Meyer reported on Wednesday night that it was a done deal.
The only thing is, no one else is reporting the hire. And Pitt is, of course, denying it.
WTAE could still come out of this looking fine, and truthfully, I expect this deal to go through. WTAE even mentions that the move wasn't official so if/when this happens in a day or two, they will either look good or really bad.
Meanwhile, speaking of looking bad, David Jones of the Penn Live blog accomplished that feat:
Two Penn State players said Wednesday night they have been text-messaged by Tom Bradley that he has been offered the Pittsburgh Panthers head coaching job and that he intends to accept it once details are worked out, according to a PSU team source.
To one player, Bradley texted: "Love you kids. Going to miss you. Wish I could take you with me. Anything I can do for you, let me know."
Only problem was that Jones shortly thereafter went on his blog and said, well, it wasn't true after all:
A previous report I made that Tom Bradley texted players that he had been offered the Pitt job is erroneous. PSU sources indicating as much proved to be unfounded. I am responsible and I profoundly regret this error.
I've got nothing against him (though I do think it was a bit bush league to remove the first post completely, as it's now gone) and I don't even fault him. Heck, I think he's a pretty respected writer and he at least came out and owned it. But I just wonder how something like that happened since there was apparently a direct quote involved. Maybe he'll explain, but maybe he won't.
Worrying that it might not happen? Well, Penn State player Nathan Stupar has taken to Twitter (thanks to Chas at Pitt Blather since my Twitter skills are practically non-existent) and congratulated Bradley on the job. Who knows, maybe he saw the WTAE report and is basing his congratulations on that. But he's at least on the team and may know.
So here we sit - the good news is that if you're a Bradley supporter, it's looking like it is still a very strong possibility. If you're not, there's still a chance you could get who you want. The reports out there seem to indicate that Todd Graham may still be interviewed. Other than that, I don't know if there are any other roadblocks out there for Bradley to overcome, seeing I don't think Sal Sunseri will beat him out for the job unless financial terms become an issue.
Stay tuned.