Boise State's Mike Sanford Jr. Turns Down Vanderbilt's Offensive Coordinator Position

Vanderbilt's search for a new offensive coordinator will continue. On Thursday, Boise State assistant coach Mike Sanford Jr. turned down the Commodores' offer to man the sidelines in Nashville.

Sanford Jr. was the architect behind a Bronco offense that scored nearly 41 points per game this season. In his first year as offensive coordinator, the young coach helped guide BSU to one of the big six New Year's bowls. Though Vanderbilt offered him a tremendous raise, it wasn't enough to make him leave Boise, where he had played quarterback from 2000 to 2004.

From KTVB in Idaho:

Boise State offensive coordinator Mike Sanford is staying put at his alma mater despite a lucrative offer from an SEC institution.

According to sources, Sanford turned down a multi-year offer from Vanderbilt University on Thursday morning.

KTVB's report states that Vandy's offer would have "more than doubled" his current salary in Boise. Since he made $305,012 last season, this suggests that the 'Dores are willing to throw at least $610,000 at the right assistant. That's a big investment for a team that got a taste of SEC success under former coach James Franklin from 2011 to 2013. Vanderbilt sputtered on offense this fall, scoring just 17.2 points per game (117th in FBS football) before firing coordinator Karl Dorrell last week. Defensive coordinator David Kotulski was also given his walking papers earlier this week.

We covered another potential OC hire, Stanford's Mike Bloomgren, earlier today. However, sources close to the situation suggest that Bloomgren is not terribly interested in leaving Palo Alto. We'll have more updates on Vandy's coaching search as they develop.