Will Muschamp calls racial insensitivity allegations toward Mike Bobo ‘absurd’
Will Muschamp was brief but firm in his defense of his offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.
The South Carolina head football coach was asked Monday about recent allegations that included Bobo’s conduct as part of a look at different issues facing Colorado State’s football program. Bobo spent five years as head coach of the Rams.
“Those claims to me are completely absurd,” Muschamp said. “I’ve known Mike since 1993. He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. That’s really all I’ll comment at this time. I look forward to commenting further, but I don’t want o give the article any more credibility because it doesn’t deserve any.”
Multiple sources, some named, some anonymous, told the Coloradoan newspaper in Fort Collins, Colorado that Bobo had made a range of remarks with racial overtones. The allegations were made and published as part of a larger report that included the Rams’ current coaching staff led by Steve Addazio.
South Carolina officials said they’d look into it. Gamecocks athletic director Ray Tanner said he spoke to Bobo and will at some point deliver a report to school President Robert Caslen, though the timing of that is not yet set.
The Gamecocks open preseason practice on Tuesday. Bobo is scheduled to speak with the media Thursday.
Adazzio and the current Colorado State staff are accused of abusive behavior, and being dismissive of COVID-19 concerns and players’ interest in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The school’s administration turned a blind eye to those issues, according to the report. The school had shut down the Rams’ workouts acknowledged it is investigating “extremely troubling allegations of racism and verbal abuse from CSU’s athletic administration generally and in the football program specifically.”
South Carolina’s athletic department provided this statement after the Coloradoan report was published.
“We are aware of the allegations made against Mike Bobo while he was the head coach at Colorado State University. While there have been no such complaints made against Coach Bobo during his time at South Carolina, we are in the process of doing our due diligence and have already been in contact with the administration at Colorado State and with Coach Bobo to gain more information and to determine the facts.”
Bobo, a longtime Georgia assistant, was hired by the Gamecocks this offseason by coach Will Muschamp to revitalize an offense that stagnated under previous coordinator Bryan McClendon.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 4:32 PM.
