Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis will not take the head coaching position at Michigan State, ESPN.com confirmed Wednesday night.

Michigan State athletic director Ron Mason now says that he never offered the head-coaching job to Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis or anyone else.

Mason also would not say how many candidates he is considering or discuss his interview plans.

"Nothing has changed," Mason said.

Comcast Sports Net first reported that Lewis had decided to remain with the Redskins.

A source close to Lewis told ESPN.com that Lewis had ended discussions with Michigan State. The same source said Lewis had been contacted by other colleges about head coaching positions, but Lewis is not interested at this point because of his desire to stay in the NFL.

Negotiations were heating up so much that Redskins officials started to think that Lewis was going to take the job. There was some thought at Michigan State that it would be close to having a press conference as early as Thursday.

Money wasn't the problem since the Spartans reportedly were willing to pay him around $1.5 million a year. Lewis wanted to see if there was going to be any chance of getting an NFL head coaching job for next season

After a long day of Redskins team meetings Tuesday, Lewis said he remained undecided whether to accept the Michigan State job. He interviewed with university representatives on Monday.

"I don't want to talk about that," Lewis told reporters. "Monday and Tuesday aren't good days to worry about that stuff."

Redskins officials were uncertain about what Lewis would do and said a decision might not come until Thursday, sources told The Washington Post.

According to the newspaper's sources, Lewis spoke to Mason early Tuesday and told Mason that he had not made up his mind. School officials were encouraged by what they heard from Lewis and pleased that they had not been turned down, according to the Post's sources, and planned to increase their efforts to hire him.

Michigan State fired Bobby Williams late in the season and replaced him with interim coach Morris Watts. The team finished 4-8, its worst record since 1991.

ESPN.com reported Monday that Lewis, following a meeting in East Lansing, Mich., told Redskins executives he was not planning to accept Michigan State's offer. But Michigan State officials did not abandon their pursuit of him. They turned up their efforts to sell Lewis on the job beginning Monday night, sources told the Post. Spartans men's basketball coach Tom Izzo also left several phone messages for Lewis and met with him Monday.

Former Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who is the head coach at Grambling, told the Post he was contacted by Michigan State administrators recently. Williams confirmed he was a candidate at one time but said that a week ago a school representative called and informed him that administrators would hire another candidate.

"I was under the impression that they had decided to go with Marvin," Williams told the Post.

Michigan State wants Lewis to commit to a five-year, $7.5 million contract that would include a buyout clause of about $1 million that Lewis would owe the school if he leaves for another job, a source familiar with the terms of the contract told the Post.

"We're not interested in tying him down," said the Michigan State source. "We want him to be successful and for others to pursue him. The buyout price is in there to prevent him from going to other colleges, but NFL owners could choose to write a check if they really wanted him."

Lewis is the NFL's highest-paid assistant coach. He is about to complete the first season of a three-year contract with the Redskins apparently worth between $2.7 million and $3.6 million.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.