6:39 p.m. — Jeff White debunks the Jon Oliver-Chris Petersen friendship reports in his blog.

"After reading this morning's story," (Oliver) told me, "the air needs to be cleared. First of all, Al Groh is still our football coach. Secondly, although I'm a huge fan of Boise State football, I've never met Chris Petersen."

Oliver grew up in Boise, Idaho, where his mother still lives, and he graduated from Boise State in 1994.

4:44 p.m. — The Daily Progress in Charlottesville has updated its story to reflect reporting in this blog.

There are several clarifications in the story, including an explanation as to why Virginia's assistant coaches make less than Boise State's as a group.

The most interesting, however, is that Petersen and Jon Oliver — Virginia's executive associate director of athletics — are not friends.

Still, the paper writes that Oliver "is one of the most persuasive personalities out there and he usually gets what he wants."

1:12 a.m. — Boise State fans have grown accustomed to these stories: Chris Petersen is leaving for (fill in the blank school).

The stories began when Petersen was one of the hottest offensive coordinators in the country and have not skipped a beat since he took over as head coach in 2006.

Petersen’s incredible success (46-4 in four seasons) has only fueled national speculation — and local worry — that he is headed out of town.

Last year, it was Mississippi State that was going to lure Petersen away. Television stations even reported terms of his new contract (four years, $9 million). Petersen had to put out a statement to debunk the rumors when they reached a fever pitch.

For the complete Mississippi State story in blog form, click here.

Now we already have this year's team that is about to hire Petersen: Virginia.

Reports are beginning to circulate out of the Commonwealth that Petersen is atop the Cavaliers’ wish list to replace Al Groh, who, by the way, still has his job. Virginia (3-8) hosts Virginia Tech on Saturday.

This story from the Charlottesville Daily Progress calls Petersen the “leading candidate” to replace Groh, though no named sources are quoted.

The headline of the story: Petersen to coach Cavs?

ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel also says to keep an eye on Virginia when it comes to Petersen.

Fact from fiction

Let me preface the rest of this blog by stating that I have not had any conversations with Petersen about Virginia or the reports that first surfaced Thursday.

But there are several factual problems with the report out of Virginia that should be corrected.

Petersen's pay

From the Charlottesville (Va.) story:

"Petersen earns a salary of $850,000 annually, a figure that would likely be doubled in order to lure him to Virginia."

Fact: Petersen’s salary is much higher than that — and climbing. Petersen actually is earning more than $1.1 million in base salary in 2009.

From Statesman beat writer Chadd Cripe’s Bronco Beat blog and based on Petersen’s contract:

"Petersen’s base salary for 2009 (actually Feb. 1, 2009-Jan. 31, 2010) is $1,112,650.

"Petersen’s buyout drops by $200,000 to $550,000 after the Broncos’ bowl game this year. The buyout expires after the 2010 bowl game, which could push Boise State to re-negotiate this offseason."

Assistant coaches' pay

Back to the Charlottesville (Va.) story:

"While some college football observers commented earlier this year that Petersen was “ungettable,” things have obviously changed.

“If Chris Petersen were to leave Boise State, that would be one of, if not the major reason for his exit,” said one source in Boise on Wednesday."

Fact: Petersen has often said that keeping his assistants around and being able to pay them is one of the keys to running a successful program. Petersen has lost just one assistant coach since taking over the program in 2006. Offensive line coach Sean Kugler left for the Buffalo Bills of the NFL following the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

"My job as the head coach is to make this as hard a place for those guys to leave as I can," Petersen said in December.

According to USA Today’s recent report on salaries, Boise State’s assistants are the highest-paid among any team in a conference that does not have an automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series. Here’s the story.

From Cripe’s blog:

"Speaking of rising costs, USA Today’s report on coach salaries revealed today that Boise State has the highest-paid football assistant coaches at any non-BCS school that reported salaries.

"Coordinators Justin Wilcox and Bryan Harsin make about $225,000."

Guess what school you can add to Colorado and California?

Virginia.

Check it out in USA Today’s database.

Boise State’s total package for all assistants is $1.57 million. According to USA Today database of coaches’ salaries, Virginia’s assistants earn a total of $1.55 million with its highest-paid assistant earning $275,000.

Also, I don’t know why Petersen would be campaigning to the WAC offices for additional money for his assistant coaches.

Other facts

Petersen spent one season as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh and has said the experience of being on the East Coast felt foreign. The rest of his coaching experience is in the West, mostly in the Northwest.

Petersen has often said that the reason he would leave Boise is if the Broncos fell behind in facilities and assistant salaries and support for the program.

"I know for me it's not about the other places. That's where everybody keeps making the mistakes. As long as this place is going to continue to grow, as long as we continue to build facilities, as long as you can pay your assistants," Petersen said.

Petersen has seen what happened to former Boise State coaches Dirk Koetter and Dan Hawkins, who took jobs at middle-of-the-pack programs in big-time conferences.

I do not know if Petersen is going to remain at Boise State after this season or next season or five years from now. Nor do I know if he is becoming frustrated with the Broncos’ struggle to get into the BCS.

What I do know, after four years of covering Petersen, is that he is not looking to take the first job that comes around. I have sat down with him, as recently as a few weeks ago, and talked about what it might take for him to leave Boise State.

From that conversation and others, I don’t believe Virginia is a place Petersen would leave Boise State for at this time.

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Brian Murphy is co-author of "Blue Magic: Boise State's Unlikely Journey to a Fiesta Bowl Win." You can click here to purchase the book.