Kirby Smart agrees to become Georgia coach, reports say

South Carolina coaching target Kirby Smart is off the market, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Smart, Alabama’s 39-year-old defensive coordinator, will be Georgia’s next head coaching “barring a last-minute snag in negotiations,” AJC.com reported Tuesday night. The coaching website FootballScoop.com confirmed the report. An official announcement could come as early as Sunday, according to AJC.com. Alabama will play in the SEC title game on Saturday.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, Gamecocks athletics director Ray Tanner told The State he has a “short list” in his search to replace Steve Spurrier but added the process could extend well into next week. Spurrier resigned on Oct. 12.

“The process has gone well by Coach (Steve) Spurrier resigning when he did,” Gamecocks athletics director Ray Tanner told The State in a statement on Tuesday. “It has given us the opportunity to have dialogue well before the end of the season. We have been very thorough during the search and now there is a short list. We are working toward the goal of having a coach by the end of next week.”

Auburn defensive coordinator and former Florida head coach Will Muschamp, who has received “consideration” for South Carolina’s job, according to FoxSports.com, could join Smart in Athens as the Bulldogs defensive coordinator, FootballScoop.com reported.

USA Today reported that Muschamp and Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt both have spoken to Tanner about South Carolina’s job opening.

The University of Houston continues to believe it is well on its way to keeping head coach Tom Herman, another South Carolina target.

“We don’t have anything signed,” Houston athletics director Hunter Yurachek told the Houston Chronicle. “We are not to the finish line yet, but we are well on the way down the right path to retaining coach Herman.”

Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, who has been connected to the opening at Miami, declined Tuesday to discuss other jobs.

“I’m not talking about any of that,” Mullen told the Associated Press after an event Tuesday nigh in Mississippi. “Every year I come here and every single year you guys ask me the same questions.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart agrees to become Georgia coach, reports say."