NIU head football coach Jerry Pettibone arrived in Portland, Ore. Monday night to discuss the vacant head coaching job at Oregon State University, a position that Pettibone said he has been offered.

Pettibone told the Northern Star Monday morning that he was offered the job, but would not comment further until he had an opportunity to talk to his team.

Pettibone was originally scheduled to talk to his squad at 4:00 p.m. Monday, but left for Oregon, apparently because of poor travel conditions in DeKalb, before the meeting began. Pettibone’s wife Susy traveled to Oregon Sunday night.

“Coach Pettibone has been offered the job as head football coach (at OSU),” NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell said. “He’s going to assess the situation and talk to the (OSU) officials, (but) he’s not accepted the position.”

Officials in Oregon, however, maintain that Pettibone is being considered, but has not already been offered the job. OSU’s Athletic Director Dutch Baughman told Portland TV station KATU that Pettibone was one of three finalists.

OSU Sports Information Director Hal Cowan said there may be some confusion regarding whether or not the job has been offered because Pettibone, as one of the finalists, was told about the type of contract OSU was offering.

The Associated Press quotes Baughman as saying, “We are extremely impressed with Jerry Pettibone both as a human being and as an outstanding coach. Obviously we wouldn’t bring a man and his wife that distance if we weren’t seriously interested.”

Pettibone was an assistant coach at Texas A&M of the Southwest Conference at the same time that Baughman served as associate commissioner of the conference.

The vacancy at OSU was created when sixth-year coach Dave Kragthorpe stepped down last week by “mutual consent.”

Carl Ackerman and Eric Burt also contributed to this article.