How South Carolina's emphasizing mental health in athletics

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

As Ryan Hilinski jogged onto the field to begin the Gamecocks’ first drive of the third quarter, he normally would have been met with a dull roar of fans getting settled in after halftime, but Saturday he was met with silence.

That’s because the almost 82,000 fans in Williams-Brice were quietly holding up three fingers in honor of Hilinski’s late brother Tyler and in an effort to help erode the stigma around mental health.

“I appreciate number one our fan base supporting the Hilinski foundation for a great cause,” Will Muschamp said after the game. “That’s something that means a lot to everyone in our organization. Coach Tanner and his administration have really emphasized mental health since I’ve been here at South Carolina.”

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Hilinski finished his day 36-for-57 with 324 yards and two touchdowns but the biggest moment of the day came as he stood on the field in that moment, which is bigger than football.

The Hilinski family lost Tyler in January 2018 to suicide, and since then have been on a mission to destigmatize and “implement the change necessary to bring parity to mental health” for college athletes with their foundation, Hilinski’s Hope.

Improving access to mental health outlets is a major movement in college football over the better part of the last decade, and Saturday it took center stage again in Columbia.

But, the Gamecocks have been working on improving mental health support for not only the football team but also to athletes across every sport on campus.

Athletic director Ray Tanner said at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting South Carolina is the only school in the SEC with in-house testing abilities for ADHD along with other mental disorders along with having a psychiatrist on retainer to talk with athletes in order to improve mental health.

There’s also going to start working with other schools inside the conference to figure out how to continuously improve how they can better mental health inside athletics.

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“What’s next for mental health in athletics and the SEC?” Tanner told the board. “Continuing to identify and improve processes that will decrease stigma and increase access to services that will help improve the overall wellness of our student athletes.”

Muschamp said he first started taking an interest in mental health in the early 2000s working on Nick Saban’s staff at LSU and said it’s been a part of each program he’s been at since then, including South Carolina.

“I can tell you here at the University of South Carolina even before Ryan Hilinski decided to become a Gamecock, Coach Tanner’s commitment to mental health and helping the student athlete in that regard is the best I’ve ever been around with support here and the number of outlets we have here for the student athlete,” Muschamp said. “Obviously with Ryan being here and us being a supporter of Hilinski’s Hope has certainly taken it to the next step.”

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Hilinski and his family’s foundation have drawn national news with an emotional piece running this week on College GameDay. To read more about Hilinski’s Hope and how to donate, click here.