So now it's just time to wait.

That's where things are in Purdue's search for its new football coach, after Cincinnati coach and prime Boilermaker target Butch Jones traveled to West Lafayette to formally interview for the job that's his if he wants it.

If you're disappointment Jones wasn't hired Sunday, don't be. That was never a real possibility.

In terms of what's going on right now, there's not much to add here: Jones is interviewing with Colorado on Monday.

The hope, then, is that a decision will come shortly thereafter, maybe Tuesday.

Colorado, which has spent the week leaking its undying affection for Jones to the media while Purdue says nothing, is said to be prepared to really pony up for its next coach, with a $3-million figure bouncing around there now.

Purdue, sources say, is confident it can pay competitively and as we've told you, it's gotten together a war chest of roughly $4.5 million for its next staff, it standing to reason then that its next head coach could make in the vicinity of $2.5 million.

We do not have information on what exactly Purdue is looking at offering Jones in the way of compensation, but you don't spend months cobbling together four-and-a-half million bucks to not use it.

Presumably, Jones will pick between Purdue and Colorado, but there are some X-factors here, as well.

One is Tennessee. Jones is believed to still want to get in on that, and as long as that job's open, that threat is going to be there. And the more notoriety Jones gets as a hot commodity, the better the chance Tennessee could be compelled to take a longer look.

The other potential end result here is a return to Cincinnati, however unlikely that may seem.

Predictably, Internet murmuring started today about UC making a 'significant offer' to retain Jones. This is standard protocol for a school about to lose a coach. Best case, you keep him. Worst case, you can at least say to your fans, 'Don't blame us, he didn't want to be here.'

But, again, in all likelihood, Jones won't be coaching the Bearcats next season. His wooing with these other schools has gotten so public now, you wonder if the point of no return isn't approaching in terms of him returning to UC.

We have heard nothing on Jones since the Purdue interview, but did hear some very positive things prior to it, including reports of some joking around he did in Cincinnati about who'd be "coming to Purdue" with him.

But that was before Sunday, and before the Colorado visit, so who knows?

If Purdue does not get Jones, we have it on very good authority Tim DeRuyter would probably be the next man up. And we're only throwing in the word 'probably' to cover us against things that might change.

Under a different set of circumstances, the Fresno State coach might be the guy anyway. We're kind of editorializing here, but he is very, very impressive, a guy who's not a household name but would be a very good hire nonetheless.

Here's the rub there, though: DeRuyter is very much in play at Cal, and that might be a hard battle for Purdue to win for the California native.

But Purdue has two very good candidates lined up here, so in that sense, it would seem to be in a great position.

But obviously now it has to get one of them.

What happens if both those guys fall through?

Well, Willie Taggart was on campus Thursday for an interview, but it's believed he's looking for something in the South, preferably where he can recruit the you-know-what out of Florida. And USF just opened.

The past few days, Pete Lembo's name has been dropped to us by several different people with ties to Ball State or the MAC. There must be something to it.

But that might be completely moot if Purdue gets the news it wants to hear early this week.

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Now that we've got the politically correct story with no promises and making it clear to some of the morons around here that you aren't saying anything is a done deal... Can you tell us what your gut feeling is here? If you were pinned down and forced to make a prediction, what do you think is going to happen?

They're not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole.  First, they have no idea.  Second, there are still idiots, as you say, around here who "blame" Brian for Zeller, Dawson, and even Harris.  I'm thinking they've learned their lesson.

Brian,
What happened to interest in Sonny Dykes?  Is there a skeleton in the closet that took him from rumored candidate 1b to not even mentioned above?  With as little as been said about with reference to the SEC openings I was wondering if something is going on in that regard.  I assumed he'd have an SEC job, likely Auburn or Ark as soon as the season concluded.

I haven't completely studied up on the latest Dykes rumors, but I think the only BCS job I've officially seen him interview with is Cal which you said Deruyter is a likely front-runner for. 

Instead, all we've seen him in the headlines for is quoted on how sad he is for his seniors since his absolute idiot AD played his cards wrong and gave up an in-state bowl for an opportunity at another and now is 9-3 squad is staying home.

I am not Brian but probably would qualify as a moron.  I believe Butch will become "Boiler Butch" within a couple of days.  Just a lot of 'seemingly' evidence points that way IMO.  

Colorado- Is he really gonna make that trip? Far out... but only as a paid vacation for a mountain view.
Tennessee- Too far down the list. Not likely to be a factor.
Cincy- only if he would rather wait another year for a bigger fish.  Possibly.
Left field somewhere- Only if a bigger fish jumps out of the water.  Not likely in the short term.
Purdue- His visit to Purdue was veeerry public and complete with wives.  Our cupboard is not bare + $$$$.

But for the record, I have actually been wrong before. This is something that my wife and I agree on .

This post was edited on 12/3 4:03 AM by Rdlaidig

There is no gut feeling. This could truly go either way.

Last week, when Purdue was basically running unopposed, things looked really good. Since then, though, Colorado has been basically making its pitch through the media and will put together a pretty attractive offer.

So, I know this is the answer you're not looking for, but we'll see.

Dykes was just one of the two coaches they identified early on as a priority, but these things evolve and I can only assume they couldn't get him in for an interview and have thus moved on with things. Since he's not gotten N.C. State and may not get Cal, he may be available for Purdue to fall back to should it have to, but as of right now, he's kind of off to the side.

Understood, thanks.  Hopefully we get Jones in the next 36 hours, if not, maybe Dykes and his Mike Leach-like O is back on deck.

Another private jet left middletown airport this morning at about 10 am.

This post was edited on 12/3 10:55 AM by JoeZap

Headed to the Colo interview presumably?

At around 9:15AM.

What happened?
He is not only an OC, but a QB coach who has done a great job for the Ducks.

He'll get the Ore job when Kelly jumps to the NFL.