Stanford AD vehemently denies Harbaugh report

Earlier this evening, the New York Times reported that Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh either has or would interview for the Notre Dame vacancy.

According to both the Cardinal athletic director and Harbaugh’s agent, however, that’s simply not the case:

While Kelly confirmed his interview, another name can be crossed off Notre Dame’s list. Stanford’s athletic director, Bob Bowlsby, strongly denied a report in The New York Times’s Web site that Coach Jim Harbaugh would be interviewing as well.

Bowlsby said that he was “100 percent confident” that Harbaugh was not a candidate because he knows the situation from “both sides.” He added that Swarbrick, a close friend, had called Bowlsby three times for advice. Bowlsby also said that he had spoken with Harbaugh’s agent, Jack Bechta, late Monday afternoon to confirm that nothing was going on. Bechta did not return a telephone call on Monday.

When asked if there was any chance that Harbaugh would be the next coach at Notre Dame, Bowlsby said, “Absolutely no chance.”

We had noted in the past that Harbaugh was on the periphery of the discussion when it came to the Notre Dame job. Based on this latest development, it looks as if he can be stricken from any further discussion about Charlie Weis’s replacement.

Of course, this all adds up to, yet again, Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly being the front runner for the job.

Earlier this afternoon, Kelly confirmed via Twitter that he would “listen to what [the Irish] have to say.” He’s the first coach to publicly confirm his interest in Notre dame and to get a sit-down with AD Jack Swarbrick.