Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WKU Athletic Director: No Comment Yet on Possible Petrino Replacement

Despite reports that WKU could be close to naming a new football coach, the school's athletic director is refusing to address such speculation.

In a phone conference with reporters Thursday afternoon, WKU's Todd Stewart said he wanted to focus on former coach Bobby Petrino, who was introduced as the new coach at the University of Louisville Thursday morning.

Stewart was asked if he tried to keep Petrino from leaving WKU after only one season.

"Certainly the Louisville job, with where their program is, with what they've achieved in recent years, and with them heading into the ACC--that's a big-time job. I don't think there's anything that we could have done here that we weren't already doing that would have persuaded him to turn that down and stay here," Stewart said.       

Multiple media outlets have reported that Stewart has met with WKU offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm about the Hilltopper head coaching job.

WKU President Gary Ransdell told the Courier-Journal he considered Brohm the leading candidate for the job and planned to interview the former U of L quarterback Thursday.

Stewart was asked if Louisville was now contractually obligated to play WKU in football since they hired away the Hilltopper coach.

"I have a good relationship with and a lot of respect for (U of L athletic director) Tom Jurich, and certainly the same for Bobby. We'll talk about that, and I'm certainly hopeful we can get something done there."

Petrino's contract with WKU contained language saying that he must use "his best efforts" to schedule a two-game, home-and-home series between WKU and any school that hired him away.

Petrino's contract with U of L is for seven years, at $3.5 million per season.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
Related Content