Mike Bobo’s biggest challenge, expectations for final three games of Gamecocks season
By noon on most Mondays, Mike Bobo has usually spent a few hours dissecting the defense of that week’s opposing team.
This week was not a normal Monday.
By 11 a.m., Bobo hadn’t watched any film on Missouri, South Carolina’s opponent on Saturday inside Williams-Brice Stadium. Instead, the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator was wrapping up an interview session with reporters — and speaking for the first time as the team’s interim head coach.
Bobo will coach the Gamecocks over the final three games of the regular season after Will Muschamp was fired Sunday. He took the news of Muschamp’s dismissal hard because of their relationship through the years.
“I didn’t come here to be an interim coach. … I came to work for Will Muschamp and help him succeed here,” Bobo said. “So when the news came down, I felt like I let coach Muschamp down that I didn’t get the job done that needed to get done on offense to help us win enough games. That is what upset me.”
Bobo and Muschamp played together at Georgia. He joined Muschamp’s staff at USC after he was let go as Colorado State head coach last season.
Bobo said he talked with Muschamp on Sunday morning and then later Sunday night after Bobo was leaving the office. The second conversation revolved around their sons, who are members of the Hammond football team that will play Laurence Manning in SCISA’s Class 3A championship game Friday at Charleston Southern.
Whit Muschamp is Hammond’s starting quarterback, while Bobo’s son Drew is a starting offensive tackle. Both are Division I prospects.
“It was a tough time (Sunday) night, as I told our players,” Bobo said. “We lost our coach, our leader and a lot of us coaches lost a friend. It was a tough day yesterday and will be a tough time going forward.
“But you are defined on how you respond to challenges, and we definitely have a challenge in front of us. We definitely have challenges as a football team and football staff. But it is also an opportunity to come together closer than we were and play for something. It would be one thing if the season was over, but we do have more opportunities to represent the University of South Carolina.”
After Missouri, the Gamecocks host Georgia before traveling to Kentucky for their season finale. USC athletic director Ray Tanner said Monday there is a possibility Bobo is considered as the team’s replacement for Muschamp.
Tanner is looking for an offensive-minded coach, he said, and Bobo’s offenses ranked in the top 15 in four of his final years there from 2010-14. The Gamecocks rank 10th in the Southeastern Conference in total yards and eighth in points per game.
Bobo said he isn’t worried about using these games as a second chance for him as a head coach, and he’s not yet thinking about interviewing for other jobs. Instead, he said the priority is on the players and their morale after Muschamp’s departure and the three straight blowout losses to LSU, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.
Bobo planned on speaking one-on-one to several players Monday to gauge the mindset of the team.
“My biggest job is getting these guys to play for each other and the University of South Carolina,” Bobo said. “I believe in our staff that coach Muschamp is put together. ... I will be more hands-on in morale and where their heads are at and leadership of this football team, and making sure they are emotionally ready to go for this football game.”
Missouri (2-3) at South Carolina (2-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC
TV: SEC Network Alternate Channel
Line: Missouri by 6
