South Carolina football: Tom Herman contacted Ray Tanner about opening

Did the Texas HC reach out regarding South Carolina football’s opening?

Post and Courier reporter Gene Sapakoff appeared on the Paul Finebaum Show Tuesday afternoon to discuss college football news around the Palmetto State. The writer dropped a bombshell when asked about the Shane Beamer hire at the University of South Carolina.

Sapakoff was asked about his thoughts on the Gamecocks’ new head coach, and his potential in Columbia. His reply is quoted below.

"“Well, Paul, I like [Beamer] a lot more than, say, Tom Herman, who I’ve been told called Ray Tanner, the South Carolina athletic director, and I’m not gonna say begged for the job, but my sources say that he was quite interested.”"

The news comes as a bit of a slap in the face to South Carolina administration, as Herman was one of the top candidates in the Gamecocks’ 2015 coaching search that ended with Will Muschamp getting the job.

There were even rumors that the two parties had agreed on terms to the point that the Gamecocks shut down its coaching search, before Herman removed his name from consideration following South Carolina’s 2015 loss to The Citadel.

Sapakoff says that Herman’s new found interest in the job stems from his current status at Texas, where he’s on the proverbial hot seat after failing to win more than seven regular season games in three of his four seasons.

Herman’s wife, along with others around the Carolina program have denied the Sapakoff report, saying that Herman is content in Austin.

Still, it seems that no South Carolina head coaching search goes without drama.