Mike Bobo’s job got significantly harder overnight.
Not only is Bobo the interim head coach tasked with pulling a team out of a three-game tailspin and preparing a team to face Missouri, but now he and the rest of the staff are in charge of keeping the 2021 recruiting class together during a coaching change.
“We’re in the process of assistant coaches reaching out to guys and talking with them and letting them know the situation after our conversation with coach Tanner last night,” Bobo said.
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South Carolina moved on from Will Muschamp, who was the head coach in charge of assembling this year’s class, Sunday night and named Bobo the head coach for the next three weeks.
Any time a head coach is fired, the status of a player’s commitment obviously gets somewhat tenuous and it’s up to Bobo and the rest of the staff to keep those players in the boat.
The Gamecock staff began reaching out after the news came out Sunday night and continued Monday morning, reinforcing a lot of the things they said during the recruitment process.
“We talk to them about South Carolina, the process coach (Tanner) is going through in finding a head coach. South Carolina is going to be committed to them and to be patient with him. You chose South Carolina for a lot of reason,” Bobo said.
“A lot of it was coach Muschamp but a lot of it too was wanting to play here, play at Williams-Brice and get an education at South Carolina. We’re going to continue to sell those things and be honest and transparent.”
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South Carolina began its process of hiring a coach Sunday night with Tanner saying Monday the plan is to have a coach in place prior to the early signing period starting Dec. 16 in part with the hope of keeping the class together.
Bobo and the staff will be tasked with maintaining conversations with those committed players and update the coaching search as much as possible.
“In a situation like this, it’s all about honesty to those kids about where we’re at, what we’re doing at this moment, what my job is, what coach Tanner is doing as far as the search and him being honest in terms of the recruits, too,” Bobo said. “That’s the only way to be: honest and transparent. If I can’t give an answer, you’re honest about it. Those kids have to make those decisions.”
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South Carolina has 16 commitments in the 2021 class currently, headlined by four-stars Colten Gauthier and Trenilyas Tatum. Tatum is the highest-rated player in the class, coming in at No. 224 nationally.
The Gamecocks’ class is currently ranked No. 50 in the country and the 12th-best in the SEC ahead of Vanderbilt (51) and Ole Miss (55).
