Hilinski, Gamecock players see more vocal presence, intensity from Bobo in practice
South Carolina football has had three full practices and not quite three months with new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo at the helm, and he’s already made quite the impression on the Gamecock players.
“He’s definitely more vocal,” sophomore quarterback Ryan Hilinski said. “I think that gets guys going a little bit more, might light a fire underneath you. You don’t want to get called out, and I think that’s what is on a lot of guys’ minds right now — just trying to be able to execute and not be that guy that lets your teammates down, and I think that’s a big difference when it comes to his style of teaching.”
Graduate transfer fullback Adam Prentice knows what that’s like — he played for Bobo at Colorado State and followed his old head coach to the East Coast. That intense style is just how Bobo rolls, Prentice said.
“He’ll get on you. He’ll for sure get on you. He’ll get on you and then a couple seconds later he’ll put his arm around you and talk you through it too. So it’s a little tough love,” Prentice said.
Even senior offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson, who does not have Prentice’s history or is in Bobo’s position group like Hilinski, has noticed it.
“Just by his intensity, by him coaching, you can already tell that our guys are starting to respect him a lot, just by the way he comes at and just by how intense are practices are,” Hutcherson said.
But Hilinski, working alongside the other quarterbacks with Bobo, has seen another side too.
“I remember, the first meeting I had with coach Bobo, it was funny,” Hilinski said. “We were watching a couple games from last year, and this was when he first got here and I was just meeting with him for four or five plus hours, and we were just going through film and trying to learn the offense as best I could.
“But I remember we were watching the Vanderbilt game, and I ran out of bounds about five yards before any close defender. And he’s like, ‘Well, I didn’t realize we were raising little babies up in here.’ He said, next time go and lower your shoulder against the guy. Obviously he was joking, but it was good to get off on a good note with him.”
That combination of vocal intensity, humor and knowledge has instilled an enthusiasm across the entire offense, Hilinski said.
“A lot of guys are picking it up, a lot of guys are confident, a lot of guys are excited about going to practice, and what he’s teaching, we can already tell, he’s a guy that’s going to put us out there and be successful,” Hilinski said. “Because we want to be a championship offense, and that’s what it’s going to come down to.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Hilinski, Gamecock players see more vocal presence, intensity from Bobo in practice."
