Tuesday afternoon, South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner said he is still in the process of investigating a recent report in which Gamecock’s assistant football coach Mike Bobo was a racial incentive during his time as head coach at Colorado State.
“We live in a world, if you hear a rumor, check it out,” said Tanner on the waves of 107.5 The Game. “You don’t discount anything. I have great respect for Mike Bobo as a person. Some things that have been said have been disparaging in many ways, but you still need to do an investigation. It started. I had the opportunity to visit him and some other members of our team. I’m going to report to our president and see where we’re going with this. We don’t consider these things lightly, but I have great respect for Mike Bobo. I have heard of several student-athletes in a positive way. “
Bobo was hired by Colorado State in 2015, and players interviewed for the story “accused (Bobo) of making racially insensitive comments and verbally harassing technical assistants, players and staff during his five years,” Miles Blumhardt of Coloradoan wrote.
Bobo’s tenure at CSU ended after the 2019 season. He has since been hired to be South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and wide receivers trainer.
On August 8, South Carolina issued a statement in response to the allegations against Bobo by Ben Breiner of the state.
“We are aware of the accusations made against Mike Bobo while he was the head coach at Colorado State University,” the statement read. “Although there was no complaint against Coach Bobo during his time in South Carolina, we are in the process of doing our due diligence and have already contacted Colorado State Administration and Coach Bobo for more information and to determine the facts. “
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Before Bobo stayed at Fort Collins, he spent 14 seasons in his alma mater, Georgia. He served as a quarterback coach for the 2001-2006 Bulldogs before adding the title as an offensive coordinator in 2007. He has accumulated an overall record of 28-35 over five seasons as a head coach. The Rams went from 4 to 8 in 2019.
Joe Cox, who followed Bobo from CSU to USC to train wide receivers, also played for Bobo in Georgia.
“It is absurd that your character is under any kind of scrutiny from anyone who knows him,” Cox wrote on social networks. “He is one of the reasons why I chose to be a coach and I feel disrespected by him. I already did and I will always want to be involved in any program he is part of.”
Former Georgia coach Mark Richt also commented in defense of Bobo.
“During those years, I don’t remember receiving a complaint from a parent, HS coach or, more importantly, student athlete about how he was treated by Mike,” Richt wrote. “The same goes for any team member. Mike blessed UGA! “