Strong staying at Louisville
Louisville coach Charlie Strong has turned down an offer from Tennessee and is staying at Louisville as first reported by Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel Wednesday night.
Sources in Louisville and Knoxville have confirmed to CardinalSports.com that Strong chose to stay in Louisville and is expected to accept a new, larger contract soon.
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Thamel wrote: "Charlie Strong is staying at Louisville, according to a Louisville source. Strong received a contract offer from Tennessee on Wednesday, but declined it after pondering the decision for a few hours.
Louisville and Strong are finalizing a long-term extension that could be announced as early as Thursday. It's expected to be a significant commitment in both years and dollars and will reportedly put Strong in the top echelon of coaches in the ACC."
Strong, now in his third season and Louisville, has the Cardinals in the Sugar Bowl for the first time in school history. With a 20-17 win over Rutgers last Thursday, Louisville secured back-to-back Big East championships and the league's automatic BCS bowl berth.
The Cardinals' coach had been the subject of intense speculation since he met with Tennessee about a job opening at that school on Friday of last week.
Over the next several days, Strong was pursued by Tennessee, culminating in a pair of offers (one larger than the next) on Wednesday.