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Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak, reportedly the top pick of the search committee tasked with replacing Joe Paterno at Penn State, is not interested in the position, The Tennessean reported Wednesday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday night that Munchak, a former Nittany Lions offensive lineman, is the first choice ahead of Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, who has been interviewed twice in the past two weeks.
"I have a great deal of respect for Penn State and I hope they find a great coach there," Munchak said. "But I am happy where I'm at."
Munchak, 51, left Penn State after the 1981 season and has spent his entire professional career with the Titans/Houston Oilers franchise. He has gone 8-7 with the Titans in his first season as head coach.
His team can still make the playoffs with a victory at Houston Sunday, but will need other results in the AFC to fall in their favor.
Interim Penn State coach Tom Bradley said Tuesday he was told the university will not make a decision on a permanent coach until after the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 2 against Houston.
"We haven't heard a thing about it," Bradley said before Penn State practiced at a Dallas high school "They said they were going to wait until after the bowl."
Bradley, who also has interviewed for the full-time job, contends he is not letting the drawn-out process affect him or the team.
Paterno, 85, was fired Nov. 9 in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal and the search committee to find his replacement has been in place since the end of November. Paterno's career ended just weeks after he became the all-time winningest coach in Division I history.
