Mike Bobo gives first impressions of offense this spring
Mike Bobo’s been in Columbia for just three short months and on the practice field five times since taking over as offensive coordinator.
It’s not even close to enough time to build any formative opinions on what he has in an offense since the Gamecocks aren’t even at full strength and he’s installing an entirely new offense, but he’s like what he’s seen so far.
“In five days of practice, I’ve been pleased with the progress of the guys,” Bobo said. “It’s been slow progress but I think we’ve gotten better every single day.”
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Bobo takes over for Bryan McClendon, who was stripped of play calling duties this offseason and will coach receivers, and began his work this spring trying to install a new offense while still learning the personnel he has.
Right now the Gamecocks have a few of their freshmen on campus but are still waiting for the arrival of Rico Powers, Ger-Cari Caldwell, Eric Shaw, Jaheim Bell, ZaQuandre White and Rashad Amos on the offensive side of the ball.
What he’s seen so far has been an up and down performance from a relatively young offense as they work on installing Bobo’s full playbook.
“We have a handful of mistakes every day. We’re not slowing down on install and we’re continuing to install things every day. Guys have picked up on it pretty well. They’re really pleased with the line of scrimmage up front,” Bobo said. “They have the most experience of any position group offensively. There are eight guys right now that have at least started a game. There’s a lot of experience up front and They are doing a good job. Our quarterback has done a nice job of preparing every day. I’ve been pleased with him. Today was probably our worst day throwing and catching the football, but before today I’ve been very pleased.”
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The Gamecocks struggled last year offensively but the message to the guys in meetings this offseason has been to clean the slate and “that was last year and this is this year,” Bobo said.
The biggest goal now is to create consistency, Bobo said, and figure out what this team does well so they can tailor the offensive scheme to it.
“We have to create an identity of who we are and what we want to be. That identity comes through spring practice, through summer workouts and fall camp. You base your identity around your personnel,” Bobo said. “The one identity—it don’t matter if we’re playing three wide, four wide, two tight ends, one back—we want to be tough, mentally and physically tough. That’s going to be part of our identity.”
Since the identity of what the 2020 offense will look like hasn’t been created yet, Bobo said he hasn’t set any concrete goals yet.
He said a “perfect” game offensively would be to throw for at least 300 yards and rush for 200.
South Carolina struggled to do either last year, averaging just 22.4 points per game (104th nationally), averaging right at 5.2 yards per play, 4.5 yards per rush and Ryan Hilinski averaging 5.8 yards per pass.
While no goals have been set yet, Bobo said he knows the yards per pass attempt have to get better this year.
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“I think you have to be close to nine. It used to be over 8.5 for us an attempt, but I know Alabama and LSU were over 10 but that’s unheard of,” Bobo said. “You want to set goals for your offense, and we haven’t gotten into that yet, but what led the league? What led the league in third down percentage, in scoring and yards per game? We want to lead the lead and then compete for the conference.”
