Kragthorpe expected to be named new coach at the Ville

Jurich, who said he wants someone he knows in the position, has a longtime relationship with Kragthorpe.

Their relationship dates back to 1990, when Jurich was the athletic director at Northern Arizona and Kragthorpe was hired as the quarterbacks coach before moving up to offensive coordinator during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.

Tulsa just played in its third bowl and has a 29-22 record for Kragthorpe, who completed his fourth season as coach of the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa won only two games in the two seasons before Kragthorpe arrived, and hadn't played in the postseason since 1991.

However, after winning the C-USA championship game and the Liberty Bowl and finishing 9-4 in 2005, Tulsa's 2006 was something of a disappointment.

The Golden Hurricane opened the season with a 7-1 record, their only loss coming at Mountain West champ BYU. At that point the roof caved in with three consecutive losses to C-USA West rivals. Tulsa closed the regular season with a win over a struggling Tulane team and then lost 25-13 to Utah in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Petrino led Louisville to a 41-9 record -- including a 12-1 record this season and a victory over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl -- and couldn't turn down an offer to run an offense featuring one of the NFL's most dynamic players in quarterback Michael Vick.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.