Officials at Illinois and New Mexico would not confirm nor deny this morning a report on ESPN.com that Illini offensive coordinator Mike Locksley has accepted the head coaching job at New Mexico. But the inference appears fairly clear.

“I can’t confirm anything about another school’s hire,” Illinois sports information director Cassie Arner said. “That’s for that school to do. I would say contact New Mexico.”

In Albuquerque, SID Greg Remington had this to say: “As far as I know, we’re still in the process of our search. Now, later today maybe that will change.”

New Mexico has remained quiet on the process, not making any comment regarding the candidates or any other aspects of the search.

Locksley has interviewed for jobs at Clemson, which has been filled, Syracuse and New Mexico. His departure would leave openings for a coordinator and quarterbacks coach and open a huge gap in recruiting, where Locksley has excelled.

In the odd-but-not-reliable category: A Google search already turns up a Wikipedia entry on Locksley, which reads: “Mike Locksley (born December 25, 1969 in Washington, D.C.) is the current head coach of the University of New Mexico.”