On the day after a job offer never came, Al Golden began his Manic Monday by refusing to directly address whether he interviewed with Penn State over the weekend about its vacant football head coach position.
“From a professional standpoint I’ve never discussed any other positions,” the Miami (Fla.) head coach said in an early-morning radio interview. “I’m not a candidate. I’m excited to be here.
“We have incoming guys coming Wednesday. The whole staff returns today and we’re moving forward.”
Golden made the comments during a live call-in interview with host Jose Rose on Miami radio station 560 WQAM Sports Radio. They came on the heels of Golden’s statement, released Sunday afternoon, that he was staying at Miami, where he’s been coach the past three seasons.
“One of the reasons I released a statement is because the speculation had grown so much,” said Golden. “I thought I would be able to get onto my press conference (Monday afternoon) or this conversation with you on Monday, but opted to release a statement so we could move forward here.”
Golden, a former Nittany Lion football co-captain and assistant coach, made the comments in a 25-minute interview at 6:30 a.m. with Rose, a former Miami Dolphins tight end who is part of the NFL team’s radio broadcast team with former Penn State star Jimmy Cefalo.
To hear the interview in its entirety, click here.
The interview kicked off a very busy day for Golden. He is slated to meet with his assistant coaches, followed by a postseason press conference. He declined to address whether he was close to being Penn State’s next head coach. Quotations are as transcribed and posted by Canesport.com.
“I became aware of it and worked with Blake (James, Miami’s athletic director),” Golden said. “There’s no way we’ll be able to get to this conversation or a scheduled press conference on Monday (without addressing it). That’s why we released a statement. So we’re moving forward, back at work today.
“The thing is over the last couple of years I haven’t responded to any of this speculation from any schools,” Golden added. “Last year I was in a recruit’s home and they had me going to another school. I’m not a candidate for another school. I was in the office Thursday and Friday evaluating every aspect of the program and I’m excited to move forward.”
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