According to ESPN’s Joe Schad, the University of Pittsburgh interviewed only five candidates, all of whom were current sitting head coaches, before signing Mike Haywood of Miami University (Ohio) to a five-year deal.

Thus, it seems that Pitt’s hiring strategy involved bringing in someone with existing head coaching experience, which left PSU assistant Tom Bradley out in the cold.

The doors are rapidly closing for Bradley, who has long been considered the heir apparent to the head coaching throne at Penn State. The only way I see that happening now is on an interim basis, if Joe Paterno’s health should suddenly worsen, precluding him from playing out his contract. Of course, if he serves as interim head coach for a year and compiles an 11-1 record, there’s little doubt that he would be included in the mix for the permanent job.