Dec. 10, 1999 SportsLine wire reports

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Loyalty to his alma mater apparently meant more to Marshall coach Bob Pruett than tripling his salary to become coach at Houston.

	Related Links: Division I-A coaching changes Forum: Should Pruett leave Marshall?
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Pruett, who signed a seven-year contract extension two weeks ago, announced Friday he plans to remain in Huntington.

"I am withdrawing my name from consideration at Houston," Pruett said in a prepared statement. "I am not a candidate."

The Cougars had called a news conference for Monday afternoon to announce their new coach. Several media reports Friday said Pruett would succeed Kim Helton, who was fired two weeks ago.

But Pruett, who is out of town all week, called his secretary Friday afternoon to say he was staying.

"That's what he said," secretary Edna Justice said. "That's all the information I had. But he did tell me that."

The call then got passed to a few of Pruett's assistant coaches, who had heard the rumors about his possible departure.

Instead, Pruett told them there would be a team meeting Sunday to start preparations for the Motor City Bowl. Marshall (12-0) and ranked No. 11 in the country, is playing BYU (8-3) on Dec. 27 in Pontiac Mich.

"I was excited to still hear that he was the coach of Marshall and that I was the defensive coordinator," Tim Billings said. "By the conversation we had, he was offered a lot more money there than he was here."

Pruett stood to more than triple his $132,000 base salary in his Marshall contract. Media reports said Pruett was offered a base salary of between $500,000 and $650,000 at Houston, plus incentives. Helton received about $300,000.

In addition, Houston would have paid off a $350,000 buyout clause in Pruett's Marshall contract, the Charleston Daily Mail reported, citing unidentified sources.

Pruett is in New York for the Heisman Trophy presentation Saturday night. Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington is a finalist.

On Thursday night, Pruett would neither confirm or deny he was offered the Houston job, saying he would discuss the matter with his team upon his return Sunday.

He apparently changed his mind.

"That's Bob. He loves this place a whole lot," Billings said. "I'm glad. And I'm an old Texas boy, too."

Pruett, 57, has led the Thundering Herd to a 34-4 record since the school moved up to Division I-A in 1997. Marshall entered The Associated Press Top 25 this season for the first time in school history and has a 16-game winning streak, tops in Division I-A.

His teams have won three straight Mid-American Conference championships. In Pruett's first season in 1996, the Thundering Herd went 15-0 and won the Division I-AA title.

Helton was fired at Houston on Nov. 22 after going 24-53-1 in seven seasons.

The Cougars won seven games this year and finished with three straight victories. However, the team wound up sixth in Conference USA with a 3-3 record.