Pruett Staying At Marshall

Loyalty to his alma mater apparently meant more to Marshall coach Bob Pruett than tripling his salary to become coach at Houston.

Pruett, who signed a seven-year contract extension two weeks ago, announced Friday he plans to remain in Huntington.

"I'm glad the people in Huntington and at Marshall want me," Pruett said from New York, where he is attending the Heisman Trophy presentation Saturday night with quarterback Chad Pennington, a finalist.

"I think it's best for everybody that we leave it that Houston is a great school and a great opportunity," Pruett said. "I wish them well."

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

But Pruett 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. No. 11 Marshall (12-0) 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.

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 Diviion I-AA title.

"I'm really glad that he's staying here," said Steve Sciullo, a freshman offensive lineman. "Continuity is important in college football and having him here will make a big difference."

"He's the one that makes the program run," said freshman free safety Courtney Dailey. "Now that he's staying, the school won't have to find a new coaching staff and this one can stay intact."

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.

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