South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner denied reports that the school is about to finalize an agreement with Houston coach Tom Herman to be the Gamecocks’ next head coach.

Earlier Tuesday, Sports Talk SC claimed that South Carolina had reached a tentative agreement with Herman, which was contingent on the coach and his wife liking the area when they visited and Herman and Tanner being comfortable working with each other. But Tanner said that story was false.

“It’s absolutely not true,” Tanner told The State and TheBigSpur.com.

Fox 26 in Houston asked Herman about the South Carolina rumors, and he also denied them.

“I chalk it up to the internet,” Herman said. “It’s a crazy world out there in the cybersphere and anyone 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.”

Herman has been linked to several coaching vacancies lately. His Houston team won its first 10 games, and is now 10-1 and ranked 21st in the latest AP poll.

South Carolina has been looking for a new head coach since Steve Spurrier resigned on Oct. 12.