COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's been quite the off-season journey, but the wait is finally over.
The South Carolina Gamecocks took the field for the first time on Tuesday to begin preseason fall camp. It was the first of 25 practices ahead of their season opener against Tennessee at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 26th.
This season will be Will Muschamp's fifth year as head coach of the Gamecocks. "It was good to be back on the grass," the head coach said. "The opportunity to be on the field in July and August helped, as we're further along installation-wise than we normally would be on the first day. We have a long way to go to improve and get better."
The 2020 season will be the first under new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. The former Colorado State head coach has implemented a new offensive for USC, however, we still don't know who will be running that offense on the field.
In his press conference on Monday, Muschamp said that the quarterback position is open. Last year's starter Ryan Hilinski is joined in a quarterback room with Colorado State transfer Collin Hill, redshirt junior Jay Urich, and freshman and former South Carolina's Mr. Football, Luke Doty.
Under Ryan Hilinski, the Gamecocks went 4-7 last season. The sophomore attributed poor footwork to many mistakes he made in 2019. "A lot of stuff that happened last year was because of my footwork," The 6-3 QB said after practice. "A lot of bad plays I still think of."
Hilinski said he's been watching last season's film with his new offensive coordinator, however, some of it is not easy to watch. "Watching some of the film with Coach Bobo, some of it is hard to watch," Hilinski said. "I know I could've done better on some of the plays, I know I could've made a better throw, I know I could've made a better progression."
Hilinski said he and Coach Bobo have gone through both good and bad plays from 2019, however it's the bad ones that the quarterback has been focusing on in preparation for this year. "Once we improve upon those little things, after watching that film, which we're doing, it's going to be a way better season this year, and we're excited."