The ‘bright future’ Mike Bobo thinks is ahead of Ryan Hilinski
There’s no other way to say it than Ryan Hilinski is in a place that might be hard for any player.
After a year of starting, taking hits and leading the South Carolina football team through a difficult campaign, he couldn’t hold off grad transfer Collin Hill, whose consistency and knowledge of the offense proved too much.
But coming out of it, USC offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had some good things to say about the sophomore passer.
“I think Ryan has a bright future,” Bobo said on the Carolina Calls radio show on Thursday. “The same thing I told Ryan when we got here, there are some things we needed to work on fundamentally.”
Footwork was a point of emphasis through an unusual offseason, as South Carolina’s spring ended early with the coronavirus pandemic and more of the offseason work came over Zoom.
And Hilinski couldn’t catch up to a player with four years of experience in the offense.
“To his credit, he’s worked his tail off,” Bobo said. “He’s spent more time on football than he ever has in his entire life. He’s become a better football player, become a better student of the game and he’s putting himself in position where one day I think he’s going to lead this team to great things.”
Hilinski started South Carolina’s final 11 games of 2019 after last year’s starter, Jake Bentley, broke a bone in his foot on the final play of the opener.
He threw for 2,357 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions but was forced to attempt more than 400 passes and only put up 5.8 yards per attempt. Before that, he was an Elite 11 passer and top-65 national recruit, picking the Gamecocks out of California from a stacked list of offers.
He still might have a chance to play, as Bobo has made QB changes in two of the past four seasons and the pandemic could shake things up at any point.
“Right now, making the decision, we thought Collin was ahead of him,” Bobo said. “I think we’re fortunate to have two guys who have played football and has experience.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 7:55 AM with the headline "The ‘bright future’ Mike Bobo thinks is ahead of Ryan Hilinski."
