Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian denied that he has been contacted by UCLA about its head coaching vacancy on Friday, but sources confirm there has been interest put forth by UCLA.

Sources also confirm that there has been little contact in recent days with Jim L. Mora, thought to be the leading candidate for the position after early attempts at Boise State’s Chris Petersen, Houston’s Kevin Sumlin and Miami’s Al Golden were rebuffed.

Sarkisian, who has led the Huskies to a 19-18 record in three years and back-to-back bowl games, would not speculate on his interest in the position with reporters in Washington.

“The point of it is, and I’ve said before, I’m not going to engage in speculation and rumors,” Sarkisian said. “Hopefully, as we continue to get better here, and we win even more games, those speculation and rumors are going to grow in numbers, and I don’t feel like I should have to come and talk about speculation and rumors every time they come up.”

Eleven days into the coaching search, UCLA fans are starting to get antsy, as several coaching positions have been opened and subsequently filled across the country. Lofty talk by athletic director Dan Guerrero that the Bruins would have more money to offer the new head coach and assistants has whet fans’ appetite for a quick hire, but UCLA has appeared to be acting deliberately in the process.

Sarkisian signed a new five-year contract with the Huskies that escalates every year through 2015, when it reaches $2.85 million.

Washington athletic director Steve Woodward echoed Sarkisian’s comments that the former USC assistant coach had been contacted by UCLA.

“You are always concerned. You are always worried when you have a good coach that other people will want to talk to him, which is a good problem to have. But Steve is very happy at the University of Washington, in a great situation, and I think everything is fine going forward. I think at the end of the day, Steve will be the coach at the University of Washington.”

The interest in Mora, meanwhile, appears to be cooling off.

Mora went 31-33 in four seasons with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks but has minimal collegiate coaching experience, with only one year as a graduate assistant for Washington in 1984.