The following is a statement from acting Penn State athletic director David Joyner on the university's ongoing search to replace Joe Paterno as head football coach.
"As we head into the holidays, I wanted to share an update on the search for the next head football coach at Penn State. We are continuing to talk with individuals that we're interested in and work through the interview process. As I'm sure all can appreciate, this is a very important hire for Penn State and, as a result, the search committee is taking a very deliberate and measured approach to the process in order to identify the coach that best fits the requirements of the position.
"We look forward to introducing our new football coach at the appropriate time. In the interim, I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays as well as remind all Penn Staters to support our team and its 23 seniors as they compete against the 12-1 Houston Cougars in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas on January 2nd."
Paterno was fired on Nov. 9 in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Joyner is the leader of Penn State's six-person search committee tasked with finding the former coach's replacement.