Collin Hill details expectations as he enters South Carolina QB competition
In the short term, new South Carolina quarterback Collin Hill is focused on getting healthy. He’s three months removed from surgery to repair his third torn ACL, which will likely keep him out for spring practice or at least limit him to a large degree.
But when he comes back full-go in the summer, the former Dorman High School star and Colorado State transfer plans to compete to play.
“I’m just gonna be completely honest, I think as a player you want to play,” Hill said. “I mean, that’s what you do everything for. That’s why you work so hard. So yeah, you want to be the starter.. You want to be the guy. That’s why you go through all the stuff you do. You know, I’m a competitor and I definitely want to play.”
One of the questions that popped up when he announced his transfer was how he’d compete with incumbent sophomore starter Ryan Hilinski and incoming freshman Luke Doty, both former Elite 11 passers. These days, it’s not uncommon for grad transfers to join teams with a reasonable expectation of not starting, situations such as Gunnar Hoak going to Ohio State behind Justin Fields.
But Hill isn’t treating this like a first step to a coaching career or anything of that nature.
Gamecocks offensive coordinator Mike Bobo “wasn’t out there guaranteeing me anything or nothing like that,” Hill said. “But really just told me once I’m healthy that I got an opportunity. We’re going to compete. That’s what we did at CSU. It was always a competition and, you know, that’s all you can ask for.”
He said Bobo, his coach at CSU who came to Columbia last month after being let go with the Rams, didn’t give Hill any kind of pitch or sell job. He just said it was a change to come home.
Hill went through the coaching transition in Fort Collins before ultimately deciding to leave. He spoke to the staff, even had floated the idea of coming to South Carolina before putting his name in the transfer portal. Soon after he did, Bobo called.
Bobo told Hill he had expected the QB to end up at South Carolina out of high school.
Hill threw for 3,323 yards, 23 scores and 11 interceptions in parts of three seasons at Colorado State. He took over as starter after his first game as a true freshman, but injured his knee after five games. His most durable year saw him play in 10 games in 2018.
Hilinski threw for 2,357 yards, 11 scores and five interceptions, but had some struggles late in the season playing on a partially torn meniscus with a receiving group hammered by injury.
Hill was visiting his girlfriend in Phoenix when the announcement went public and was actually in attendance at the Fiesta Bowl between Clemson and Ohio State. He warned a few folks beyond family back home that the news was coming, he said. The group included some old friends, his high school coach, Dave Gutshall, and a favorite teacher from high school.
“She’s a huge South Carolina fan,” Hill said. “So she was she’s really excited.”
