Spoiler alert: No.

I do get it. I do get the logic and how it can be arrived at that point, but the reasons for it not happening are just too overwhelming. Granted I was wrong on whether Pitt would actually fire Wannstedt. I was wrong on thinking that FraudGraham’s sales patter was irrelevant — as long as there were results. So maybe my track record on what to expect regarding Pitt football coaching activities are less than impressive.

Wait. Let’s start over. I seemed to have digressed.

There was the early rumor/nugget buried in what was a Penn State story:

Bradley repeated Monday he will stick with the program “until the end.”

However, he has said he expects to have other opportunities for a coaching job.

One may emerge at Pitt, if the timing is right. Bradley is on a short list of contenders to serve as defensive coordinator for new Panthers coach Paul Chryst, sources said. Chryst finished his tenure as Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator Monday in the Rose Bowl against Oregon.

Sure it was a Trib PSU beat reporter reporting that nugget, but maybe there was something.

Then came Sports By Brooks making the full declaration that Bradley was not only a candidate, but the primary candidate. In fact he would be doing a direct interview with new Pitt HC Paul Chryst and AD Steve Pederson. A certain logic there. Given the Sandusky scandal hanging over Penn State and what was known by any and all coaches at PSU, no way could Bradley just interview with Chryst. There would have to be deeper vetting. Plus, SbB offered compelling reasons why Pitt would consider this. Heavy pressure being brought to bare:

In Bradley’s pursuit of the Pitt assistant position sources have indicated to SbB that one of his main allies is the Steelers, or more specifically, the Rooney family. Pitt is a ‘tenant’ of the Steelers practice facility and Bradley’s brother, Dr. James P. Bradley, is an orthopedic surgeon and lead team doctor for the NFL club.

Yes, factual error regarding Pitt’s status at the UPMC South Side complex. That said, it’s been an open secret that the Rooney family thinks highly of Bradley. So it seems plausible. Plus, SbB nailed it earlier with Chryst’s hiring. Admittedly SbB tends to throw a lot of s–t against the wall to see what sticks, but maybe he is plugged in on this. Maybe it isn’t just Bradley’s agent and friends trying to gin up interest for the guy.

Joe Starkey of the Trib and 93.7 discounted it. So there’s that.

Paul Zeise, after landing in Birmingham also disagreed slightly.

It is not going to happen at Pitt. Period. Not going to happen.

I’ve been told this numerous times  by the right people. The only way I can make anyone believe me is, well, I can’t because so many people insist on making him a candidate for every job at Pitt….

With regards to Bradley, however, I’ll just say this – I’ve been told emphatically it is not going to happen, period. Among a number of other reasons that I won’t go into unless you really want to be bored, here is the biggest one — Paul Chryst has his own guys that he has worked with before and he is going to choose from one of them. So let’s move on, it is not going to happen, it is time to close that book.

I simply do not see it happening. Not from any inside knowledge. Not from the fact that he is a PSU-lifer. Not because of the Rooneys. It is simply the situation. There is no way Pitt is taking a chance on anyone on PSU’s coaching staff. Not when too much is not known about who really knew what and when about Sandusky. It’s been clear that some cover-up occurred. It is unclear how many others knew or suspected.

As I’ve said,  before Pitt is not going to hire anyone from PSU’s staff until well after the investigation and trial of Sandusky — along with the perjury trials — are complete. Too many questions. Too much potential embarrassment. Too much risk without even the chance of plausible deniability.

Or as FeartheStache put it:

Bradley very well might have known absolutely nothing about Sandusky – or at least nothing he could prove. But if you’re Pitt, already reeling from bad news after bad news after bad news, are you really going to take a chance on a guy who could end up indicted by the end of the year?

No.