Mike Bobo’s to-do list before South Carolina gets to spring practice
It came up several times in new South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s introductory press conference. Spring practice will be vital for his side of the ball in terms of learning new terminology, installing a full set of schemes and learning what everyone is capable of.
But what comes before that?
The Gamecocks sit a few weeks away from the start of winter conditioning, and that begins a nearly two-month run-up to the start of spring ball in late February. For Bobo, the first thing was a little paperwork.
“I got to fill out this background check,” Bobo said, looking down at a piece of paper. “It’s due today, but they’re on me about that.”
And after that?
“Number one is getting on the road and seeing the guys that Coach (Will) Muschamp wanted me to see,” Bobo said. “Number two is having the chance to get around some of the players that were in town for the banquet and meet some of those guys and try to put a face with a number.”
He’s already done the first, seeing quarterback commit Luke Doty before signing day and dropping in on several other prospects. He’s still working on the other part. In a radio interview this past week, he needed a little help to get to No. 13 on film being wide receiver Shi Smith.
He said he’d mostly watched old game film, met some of the players who were around town and told them how excited he was. That first week was about recruiting.
“Not really getting in any scheme stuff with those guys yet,” Bobo said. “Now, it’s gettin’ around the staff.”
Bobo is being tasked with resuscitating an offense that fell into the bottom 10 nationally in points per game and yards per play against FBS competition. It loses its top three rushers and two of its top three threats in the passing game.
But he does inherit a second-year starting QB in Ryan Hilinski, one proven explosive receiver in Smith and a few other options. The offensive line has four starters back, and the coming class will include three tailbacks, including consensus four-star MarShawn Lloyd.
Bobo’s style has changed the past few years as he coached at Colorado State. The teams at Georgia when he was offensive coordinator often relied on heavier sets, but he went with more three-receiver looks in Fort Collins.
He still promised a power run game in some form at USC, trying to bring a level of physical play to an offense that ended up decidedly pass-heavy. He said he aims to install a good deal of scheme in spring so the team can sort through what it executes best.
Last week involved a lot of catching up with 2021 and 2022 prospects. Now he turns to watching more film of recruits and nailing down what he’d like to do on offense.
“We’re working as a staff, kind of recruiting in the morning, football in the afternoon,” Bobo said. “They start to talk about what we’re going to do offensively and throw ideas back and forth. We start spring practice February 26, so it’s two months away. Coach asked if we needed to move it back any, but I think that’s plenty enough time to get ready as a staff and present this to the players and get working.”
