Cal Head Coaching Rumors: Troy Calhoun, Chris Petersen, Mike MacIntyre, Hue Jackson Updates

See our first thread of for the first set of rumors.

Well, here's a name I wasn't expecting to hear: Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun.

A Cal rep has reached out to an intermediary of Calhoun and has him on the school's list of potential candidates, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

Calhoun, who is 47-29 in six seasons at Air Force, has been linked to Tennessee and Colorado jobs in the past but is widely considered loyal to the Academy, where he also went to school and worked as an assistant. Air Force has qualified for its fifth consecutive bowl game.

Air Force went 6-6 last season and finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference. He has gone 47-30 with the Falcons and did win eight to nine games in his first four years at Air Force, including a 2nd place finish in 2007 (Cal beat Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl that season).

I would have to imagine that if Cal really went all-in on Calhoun, it would have to do with academics. Air Force was 10th in the country in APR last season, which would also have been tops in the Pac-12. Expect Colorado to make a go at Calhoun as well.

Elsewhere, Chris Petersen provided a non-answer about the coaching rumors.

"Twenty-two minutes, that’s better than I thought," Petersen said. "It’s just rumors. That’s all I really want to say about this, and I say it every year."

While Petersen’s tone publicly may be different, the message — at least right now — is the same: He has no intention to leave the Broncos.

At the moment, I'd guess Boise fans have to feel pretty safe that Petersen will stay right where he is. He didn't outright deny the possibility that he might take another job, but it was as close as you could come to a rebuffal. There has been a report that Cal will interview Petersen, but it's unclear if it's just wishful thinking at this point.

Meanwhile, Jeff Faraudo has come up with some of the latest news updates on the coaching situation.

San Jose State head coach Mike MacIntyre has apparently not been contacted by either Cal or Kentucky. But this is misleading since Cal has hired DHR to conduct its coaching search. MacIntyre can say on record that Cal has not contacted him because DHR is the company that has been contacting him about the Cal position. Plausible deniability and all that.

San Jose State finished this week with a top 25 ranking in the BCS, second in the conference only to Utah State. The Spartans did play the Furd very close to the vest on opening week, losing 20-17. I cannot imagine Barbour is not looking at MacIntyre given their meteoric rise in the Bay Area.

The situation might be similar with Hue Jackson, who denies contact with Cal but probably has heard from DHR. Jackson is currently an assistant on the Bengals defensive staff and has previously coached at Cal under Steve Mariucci as the team's offensive coordinator.

Faraudo and Monte Poole (who interviewed Jackson) seem to indicate that Jackson's primary motivation in getting the Cal job is just to get another gig worries me; it doesn't sound like an individual who will be willing to commit to Cal for the long-term, and is just angling to prove himself before he finds something better. I'm pretty sure Barbour is angling for someone who will commit to Cal like Jeff Tedford did.

Western Kentucky head coach Willie Taggart has also denied contact with any school. I'm not sure if Cal is seriously considering him, and I imagine he'd stay in the South (particularly with several SEC jobs available). WKU went 7-5 for the second straight season under Taggart.

Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin does not seem to be a serious candidate for anything, as he figures to get a nice contract extension that should keep him nice and happy with the Commodores for the near future.

49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman provided a non-answer on the Cal position to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

"I am so focused on what I'm doing right now. Any thought or anything that would distract me from the task at hand for the 49ers for me would not be appropriate. So I don't know, to answer your question. I'm focused on one thing, and that's continuing to get better..."

Asked whether he had any job interviews during the bye, roman said he spent it "self scouting."

Sonny Dykes has reportedly said no to Kentucky.

Source on UK football search: "All the agents are telling their coaches it's a dead-end job and if they're an up-and-comer, don't touch it."

— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) November 27, 2012

Yeah, Cal is looking like a better job than Kentucky at this point.