SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

There was no doubt in Mike Bobo’s mind, once he was he and Colorado State parted ways, he was going to coach again as soon as possible.

He didn’t want to take a year off—he joked his wife wouldn’t like him being around that much—and then came the part where he got to choose his next landing spot.

There was a long list of criteria Bobo wanted to evaluate before settling on where he ended up, and South Carolina checked those boxes.

“I'm excited about coming to a place that is, I really believe, is on the verge. I know last year wasn't what coach and his staff expects out this program and are striving for but the pieces are here,” Bobo said. “From a great staff to a great foundation of players. I really like that you've got eight starters returning, eight guys that have started up front on offensive line. You've got a young quarterback that's got talent and I believe, a place that is hungry.”

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Bobo was let go at Colorado State Dec. 4 and agreed to terms with South Carolina four days later and officially approved by the Board of Trustees two days later.

The process went quick as Will Muschamp reached out and got a deal in place quickly, locking Bobo in right before the early signing period.

For Bobo, he said it was an easy decision to come to a place he thinks can compete for conference titles soon.

He likes the potential and said he wants to be at a place where a lot of firsts can be accomplished, and thinks the pieces are in place for South Carolina to do that and do it soon.

The Gamecocks are returning starting quarterback Ryan Hilinski but lose three of their top five receivers last season—including all-time yards leader Bryan Edwards—and have four offensive linemen coming back.

“I've always been impressed when you come over here and play, the passion that this fan base has and the energy in this stadium. And that, that carries over to your players. I think, Will, you told the last championship was 1969?” he said. “I want to be part of a place that gets it turned around and a place you can be a long time. It's a great place for me to move my family and it's a great place where I think we can be successful. And I had to have both of those.”

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Muschamp said it was an easy decision to zero in on Bobo once he became available. He and Bobo both played together for a year at Georgia and coached against each other with Bobo the offensive coordinator at Georgia and Muschamp the defensive coordinator at Auburn in 2007 and Florida’s head coach between 2011-14.

In almost a decade as Georgia’s offensive coordinator, Bobo was a Broyles Award finalist and put together multiple top 25 offenses with elite talent like Matt Stafford, Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley and plenty of others.

Offense was never really the problem at Colorado State with Bobo’s offense never averaging fewer than 22.8 points and 410.8 yards per game, including peaking at averaging 35.3 points per game his second year and 493.2 yards per game in year three.

“(I) personally have had tremendous respect for him as a play caller and what he presents to you defensively,” Muschamp said. “And then to watch what he's done at Colorado State, which he's changed a lot as far as what he did at the University of Georgia and that's what I think really good coaches do is they adapt to where they are and what their players can do. And I think that's what I've seen and I'm really excited about what they're going to put together here offensively.”