Georgia Head Coach Rumors: Ex-Ohio State HC Thad Matta in Talks with Bulldogs

Thad Matta, the former men's basketball head coach for Ohio State, Xavier and Butler, is a "serious candidate for the vacancy at Georgia," according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Per that report, "Discussions between both sides could begin as early as today."

Rothstein added, "A source also informed FanRag Sports that Matta has told confidants that he’s intrigued with the idea of coaching and living in the South."

The Bulldogs (18-15) fired Mark Fox on Saturday after nine seasons as the program's head coach, per ESPN.com. Georgia reached the NCAA tournament just twice during his tenure.

"In the end, I felt like we have not reached our full potential as a basketball program," athletic director Greg McGarity said in a statement, per ESPN. "I really thought we were on the way to turning the corner this year. We just did not achieve the level of success as a program that I believe we should at the University of Georgia."

"For the past nine years, we have had the good fortune to coach some terrific young men," Fox added. "This chapter has closed, and I am grateful to the many who have helped us along the way but especially to the young men who wore the red and black. We've been able to reach a couple of NCAA tournaments, a couple more NITs and graduate our players. Hopefully, our time here can be the groundwork for more success."

Matta, meanwhile, last coached the Buckeyes in the 2016-17 season. In his 13 seasons with Ohio State, he led the team to the NCAA tournament nine times and to the Final Four twice. Overall, he's gone 439-154 in his college coaching career with 13 NCAA tournament appearances. 

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic broke down the potential appeal of Georgia for Matta: 

Georgia isn't alone in its reported interest, however. Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reported that Matta met with Ole Miss officials a week ago about their head coaching gig and that Matta, who dealt with health concerns during his time at Ohio State, "currently is in much better shape physically and is rejuvenated after dealing with back and foot issues."

"He wouldn't take any job," a source told Goodman. "But he'd possibly consider coming back for the right one."