University of Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst said prior to the Outback Bowl he was hoping for a "calm" offseason.

Any chances of that ended when Chryst's name surfaced on Saturday as a potential candidate to replace Joe Tiller as the head coach at Purdue.

The talks between the Boilermakers and Chryst have been ongoing for a couple of weeks and were first reported on the Lafayette Journal and Courier Web site.

Morgan Burke, the athletic director at Purdue, reportedly denied the report during the Boilermakers men's basketball game Saturday. But a UW source confirmed Purdue has been in discussions with Chryst.

Chryst could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

Burke hired a coaching consultant to find the successor to Tiller, 65, who just finished his 11th season as the team's head coach but has not announced any plans to retire.

The plan was to bring Chryst on board and have him serve on the Purdue staff for at least one season under Tiller before taking over the team.

It's similar to what the Boilermakers did with their men's basketball team, when Matt Painter was brought in as an associate head coach for a year before taking over for Gene Keady in 2005.

The football plan might have already run into a glitch, however, since Tiller apparently was not made aware of it until the successor was already found, according to the Journal and Courier.

Tiller is reportedly not happy with the way things were handled and is now considering retiring, which means Chryst could take over immediately.

With an 83-54 overall record, Tiller is one of the most successful football coaches in Purdue history. But he has struggled the past few years, much like Keady did late in his tenure.

The Boilermakers finished 8-5 overall this season, almost blowing a huge lead before holding on to beat Central Michigan 51-48 in the Motor City Bowl. Purdue was 3-5 and finished in a tie for seventh in Big Ten Conference play.

Since winning a Big Ten title in 2000 and going to the Rose Bowl, losing to Washington 34-24, Tiller has gone 29-27 in conference play, with only two winning seasons in the last seven years.

Chryst was recently interviewed by Washington State for the head coaching job that went to Eastern Washington coach Paul Wulff. A year ago, Chryst repeatedly turned down a chance to be the Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach.

"I think it can probably be what you want it to be," Chryst said prior to the bowl game, when asked what kind of offseason he expected it to be for him. "I'm hoping it's calmer."

The Cowboys went to great lengths to hire Chryst in February 2007 and kept raising the ante to a reported $500,000 offer. After much agonizing, Chryst turned that down and signed a new five-year deal in March that would pay him $1.75 million if he stays at UW for the length of the contract.

It was a landmark contract for a UW assistant coach, with a base salary of $283,333, plus an annuity of $50,000 per year. If he leaves before the end of the contract, he receives $50,000 for each year he stayed.

Chryst, who is married and has three children, said family considerations played a strong role in his decision to stay a year ago. He also has strong roots in the community, having been born in Madison and played at UW.

He said before the bowl game it would take a good offer to get him to leave and the Purdue job certainly seems to qualify.

"Really, the things that kept us here haven't changed," Chryst said before the bowl game. "What's around the corner? Don't know. But it would have to be pretty unique and really pretty good to leave. Because we've got it really good. The factors that really were key to keeping us here, those haven't changed."