The UT System may be eyeing departing U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to be its next chancellor, according to The Wall Street Journal and other media reports on Friday.

The UT System is in the early stages of its search to replace current Chancellor William McRaven, who is set to step down in May due to health concerns, but Tillerson has become a potential candidate.

Tillerson, a renowned UT-Austin alum and former CEO of Exxon Mobil, was fired from his post as secretary of state by President Donald Trump two weeks ago and will be officially departing March 31.

Sara Martinez Tucker, chair of the UT System Board of Regents, and a committee made up of the two current Board vice chairmen and two former Board chairmen are currently accepting public nominations, but no candidates have been interviewed yet, according to the Houston Chronicle.

"Nobody other than the members of the search advisory committee have confirmed knowledge of the names of candidates under consideration,” Randa Safady, UT's vice chancellor for external relations, said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle.

Tillerson, a 1975 civil engineering graduate, spoke at UT-Austin in February before embarking on a diplomatic visit to Latin America.