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(LOUISVILLE) -- 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.

Kragthorpe had briefly emerged as a candidate to replace Petrino two years ago, when Petrino met with LSU officials to talk about taking over for outgoing coach Nick Saban.

Jurich was looking for stability and a coach that viewed Louisville as destination job rather than a steppingstone. While Petrino led the Cardinals to unprecedented heights, every offseason seemed to bring another round of speculation that Petrino would head for a higher-profile job.

"I want somebody who wants to be here," he said.

Kragthorpe's experience at both the NFL and college levels should play well in Louisville, where Petrino helped build the program into one of the nation's best by putting together a dynamic offense that played to capacity crowds. Louisville finished second in the nation in total offense this season and fourth in scoring offense.

Even if Brohm decides to join Bush in the NFL next year, the cupboard is hardly bare.Most starters return on both sides of the ball next year, including wide receivers Mario Urrutia and Harry Douglas, and backup quarterback Hunter Cantwell played well while filling in for Brohm after Brohm injured the thumb on his throwing hand in January.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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2003-Present Head Coach Tulsa
2001-2002 Quarterback Coach Buffalo Bills
2000 Offensive Coordinator & Quarterback Coach Texas A&M
1998-1999 Offensive Coordinator & Wide Receivers Coach Texas A&M
1997 Wide Receivers Coach Texas A&M
1996 Quarterback Coach Boston College
1994-1996 Offensive Coordinator North Texas
1990-1994 Quarterback Coach Northern Arizona
SchoolYearWLPct.BowlTulsa200385.615Humanitarian BowlTulsa200448.333Not Bowl EligibleTulsa200594.692Liberty BowlTulsa200685.615Armed Forces BowlTotal42922.568