The first few stories featuring the ever-popular "unidentified sources" and their naming of potential hires for IU football's vacant head coaching job have begun to surface.
One in particular has a well-known coach flatly denying any such report.
A number of sources -- notably a web site named Football Rumor Mill and ESPN.com's Pat Forde -- have indicated Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson is at the top of the pack for the job in Bloomington. Forde even said IU athletics director Fred Glass interviewed Wilson Friday in Oklahoma City.
Not so fast, said Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops on Friday. Stoops, talking to reporters during the lead up to Saturday night's Big 12 championship game in Dallas, flatly denied that Wilson has been in discussions, reports the Tulsa World.
From the Tulsa World's John E. Hoover and Dave Sittler:
Stoops, however, quashed it entirely. Asked if Wilson planned to interview with Indiana officials after the Sooners play Nebraska for the Big 12 title, Stoops said Wilson wouldn't, and didn't have plans to.
"No, not at this point," Stoops said. "He hasn't been contacted and we haven't been contacted. So, as usual, it's erroneous and made up. And right now there are no plans for it to be true since no one -- Joe (Castiglione) knows (Indiana athletic director Fred Glass) well, and Kevin and I have as good a relationship as could be, and if anything was set like that, we would know.
"And I wouldn't have a problem saying it. I hope he is contacted."
Per Stoops' reference, Joe Castiglione is the athletics director at Oklahoma.
Of course, denials and accusations of inaccurate reports are nothing new in the dramas of the college football carousel. However, Stoops offered Wilson's whereabouts Friday and a personal reason to despise the unconfirmed reports.
Apprised of an ESPN.com report that said Wilson had interviewed Friday morning in Oklahoma City, Stoops reiterated his stance.
"They're wrong," Stoops said. "Kevin was meeting with our guys, I saw him in the office and he was going into meetings with the players when I walked out and he's getting on the bus with the team from there and going. So, again, as they were wrong with me (going to Notre Dame last summer), they're wrong with him."
I talked to the Tulsa World's John Hoover via e-mail after the story, and his suggestion was that Stoops ought to be considered the "horse's mouth" for this situation, and to be cautious of other reports.
However, as Stoops said, this doesn't rule out a Wilson-to-IU scenario. It's just certainly not as far along in the process -- if there is one -- as some other places are wanting to claim.
H/T to John Hoover at the Tulsa World
