Reports: Kirby Smart replacing Tom Herman as favorite for USC job

Tuesday night bled into Wednesday morning with a flurry of online reports on the chances of Houston coach Tom Herman landing with South Carolina and who emerged.

Wednesday morning, FoxSports Bruce Feldman cited a source claiming Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart has emerged as a front runner for the Gamecocks’ vacant position.

Later in the day, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach chimed in the Gamecocks might be down to the two candidates.

It all followed a small flurry of reports of cooling on the Herman-to-USC front. Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde reported Tuesday night Herman and USC had gone down pretty far down the road, but it had changed. Just before noon Wednesday, he followed up with a story saying Herman is no longer a candidate. USA Today’s Dan Wolken wrote Herman’s agent Trace Armstrong let it be known Herman’s best option was to hold on at Houston and wait for the ideal job.

ESPN’s Chris Low tweeted Tuesday he’d be surprised if Herman landed in Columbia.

Low added Wednesday an earlier report out of Columbia that a deal was already in place was not the reason Herman cooled on the position.

That report, however, did elicit a fiery response from Herman himself.

“I chalk it up to the internet," Herman said told a local Houston television station. "It's a crazy world out there in the cybersphere and anybody can put anything they want. I don't pay attention to it. I addressed it with the team on Sunday that nothing that you see on the internet is true."

This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Reports: Kirby Smart replacing Tom Herman as favorite for USC job."