Highly sought after Boise State head coach Chris Petersen is reportedly not interested in the vacant Penn State head coaching position, according to The Patriot-News. 

Petersen, 47, is considered one of the hottest coaching prospects in college football. In six years as the head coach at Boise State he has led his team to a 71-6 overall record and a 2-0 record in BCS Bowls. He is the first and only two-time winner of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, given to the NCAA’s best college football coach.

Penn State is looking to fill their head coaching position for the first time since 1965 after longtime head coach Joe Paterno was fired due to the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal. Paterno became college football’s all-time winningest coach while at Penn State, posting a record of 409-136-3.

Tom Bradley has served as the interim Nittany Lions head coach since Paterno’s firing.

The search for Joe Paterno’s replacement as head football coach at Penn State is more than three weeks old, and the school has made two recent visits to Idaho that were likely attempts to convince Boise State head coach Chris Petersen to take the job, according to David Jones of The Patriot-News.  Jones reports, however, that little is known of what actually transpired on those visits.

A hire of Petersen would be an all-but-unquestioned win for the beleaguered football program.  Under Petersen, previously little-heralded Boise State has gone 73-6 in five years, and finished the 2011 season ranked seventh in the BCS standings.  But Petersen has no notable ties to Penn State, and — aside from this reported persistence on Penn State’s behalf — there is little reason to assume that he would join a program currently mired in the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.

Jones further reports that Penn State’s second choice is current Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak, who played his college ball at Penn State.  As with Petersen, though, there is little reason to assume that Munchak would leave his current job for the uncertainties of the current situation in State College.

According to Jones, the two smaller names in PSU’s search are Duke head coach David Cutcliffe and Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe.

Boise State head football coach Chris Petersen will not become a candidate for UCLA’s head coaching position, a source has told ESPN.com.

UCLA reportedly inquired about Petersen as the potential replacement for fired head coach Rick Neuheisel, however they were informed that he would not be interested in the position. UCLA will play Oregon this weekend in the Pac-10 title game as a result of USC’s ineligibility. The Bruins are just 6-6 overall this season.

Petersen, 47, is considered one of the hottest coaching prospects in college football. In six years as the head coach at Boise State he has led his team to a 71-6 overall record and a 2-0 record in BCS Bowls. He is the first and only two-time winner of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, given to the NCAA’s best college football coach.