PSU prez hopes to have new coach by bowl game

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State could have a replacement for fired football coach Joe Paterno by the end of the year.

School president Rod Erickson said Wednesday the school hopes to have a new coach in place by the Nittany Lions' bowl game. No. 23 Penn State (9-3) should learn its postseason destination by this weekend.

Paterno was fired Nov. 9 after 46 seasons in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Longtime defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is running the team on an interim basis.

Erickson became president after Graham Spanier also departed under pressure. Erickson told reporters after a school town hall meeting the criteria for selecting a new coach was "wide open," but that he hasn't yet met with the search committee formed this week.