Tulsa's Kragthorpe to succeed Petrino at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville will hire Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe to replace Bobby Petrino on Tuesday, according to an official close to the negotiations.

Kragthorpe and Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich agreed on a five-year deal that will pay Kragthorpe $1.1 million a year, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been completed.

A news conference was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to announce the hiring. The Louisville Athletic Association Board of Directors was to meet in the afternoon to vote on the deal. The agreement was first reported by ESPN.

Kragthorpe went 29-22 in four seasons at Tulsa, winning the Conference USA title in 2005. The Cardinals went 12-1 in 2006, won the Big East and the Orange Bowl and finished sixth in the final AP poll. Petrino resigned on Sunday night to coach the Atlanta Falcons.

The deal caps a whirlwind courtship of Kragthorpe by Jurich, who promised to move quickly to replace Petrino.

Jurich flew to Tulsa on Monday night to interview Kragthorpe, according to the official. The interview process took less than 24 hours, and Kragthorpe and his family joined Jurich on a plane ride back to Louisville on Tuesday morning.

Tulsa had no immediate comment.

Kragthorpe and Jurich have a relationship dating to 1990, when Jurich was the athletic director at Northern Arizona and Kragthorpe was hired to be the Lumberjacks' quarterbacks coach.

Kragthorpe helped resurrect a Tulsa team that had won just two games in the two years before he was hired in December 2002, leading the Golden Hurricane to three bowl appearances in four seasons. Tulsa went 8-5 this year, losing to Utah in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The hiring, however, wasn't fast enough to persuade running back Michael Bush to stay with the Cardinals. Bush said Tuesday that he was going to enter the NFL draft rather than accept a medical redshirt after breaking his right leg against Kentucky in September.

Junior quarterback Brian Brohm has until Jan. 15 to decide whether to bypass his senior year and join Bush in the draft. Brohm is expected to meet with Kragthorpe in the next few days before making a decision.

Brohm's decision could rest on whether any of the current staff remains with the program next year. Older brother Jeff Brohm was the team's quarterbacks coach under Petrino.