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Report: South Carolina had Tom Herman until loss to The Citadel

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Will Muschamp hasn’t coached a game at South Carolina, but already there might be some buyer’s remorse from fans.

According to an article in USA Today, Muschamp was the fourth choice for the coaching position since the school thought it had nabbed the biggest coaching fish in the pond.

Houston’s Tom Herman was reportedly interested in South Carolina’ head coaching position early in the search, but according to USA Today’s Dan Wolken, his desire changed after the Gamecocks 23-22 loss to the Citadel.

South Carolina, in fact, first targeted Houston’s Tom Herman and was so far down the road toward an agreement, according to two people familiar with the process, that the school’s administration had essentially shut its search process down.

Those same people, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity, said Herman’s mind changed after South Carolina lost to The Citadel on Nov. 21 and it became clear the next coach would have a massive rebuilding job on his hands. Herman decided to stay at Houston for a deal worth nearly $3 million per year and, presumably, wait for a more high-profile situation.

South Carolina, meanwhile, turned next to Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who instead went to Georgia, and talked extensively with Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez, who turned down an offer he did not view as legitimate, according to people familiar with the process.

It’s a little odd that it took the loss to The Citadel to sour Herman on South Carolina. The Gamecocks were 1-7 in conference play and 3-8 overall. Coaches like Steve Spurrier don’t just abruptly quit in the middle of the year unless they recognize a deep problem in the program. All of this was clear well before the Nov. 21 FCS loss.

Herman, who was the hot target this offseason, decided to stay with Houston and is in the midst of building a Group of Five juggernaut. If things continue, he’ll be the hot name on the job board during the 2016 offseason.

This isn’t to say Muschamp is a bad coach or South Carolina made a mistake. Muschamp did have some good times at Florida, his first and only previous head coaching experience, but he didn’t have the cachet of some of the other people on the Gamecocks wish list.

However, Muschamp told USA Today he learned a lot from his previous coaching experience and is better equipped to handle the position this time around. And if he is, South Carolina might be happy it went with its No. 4 guy.

For more South Carolina news, visit GamecockCentral.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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