Yahoo Sports 
Tom Herman: Citadel loss did not derail South Carolina interest
According to Houston coach Tom Herman, South Carolina's loss to The Citadel did not cause a breakdown in negotiations to be the Gamecocks' new head coach.
A February report in USA Today said Herman was in discussions to be South Carolina's head coach until the Gamecocks lost in November to the FCS school. Per the report, USC and Herman had made so much progress towards a deal "that the school’s administration had essentially shut its search process down."
Thursday on the Paul Finebaum Show, Herman said that report wasn't true.
"Absolutely not true," Herman said. "I wish that reporter had actually asked me for my comment on that, I would have given him the truth just like I'm giving it to you Paul. I don't know you very well but I do respect you and your work and the truth is that report was false."
Herman talked at length about "the truth" in coaching search reports in his interview. He also used that theme in an interview with a Houston radio show in January about reports surrounding Houston and former Texas A&M QB Kyle Allen, who transferred to Houston.
[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for entertaining things you won’t see on the blog]
Herman became the hottest coach on the market as he took Houston to the Peach Bowl (and beat Florida State) in his first season with the Cougars after he served as Ohio State's offensive coordinator. Herman signed a new deal with Houston in December and will undoubtedly be mentioned for more high-profile positions in 2016 if a big name team or two struggles.
The USA Today report also said that current South Carolina coach Will Muschamp was the team's fourth choice. Muschamp, who succeeded the retired Steve Spurrier and interim coach Shawn Elliott, spent the 2015 season as Auburn's defensive coordinator after he was fired from Florida.
[Visit Dr. Saturday on Facebook for stories you might have missed and chat with the writers]
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
