South Carolina football: Mike Bobo, Will Friend leaving Gamecocks for Auburn

South Carolina football now needs an offensive coordinator.

Reports began to surface yesterday that Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin was trying to lure Gamecock offensive coordinator Mike Bobo away from South Carolina. Early this morning, Football Scoop has confirmed that the Tigers will hire Bobo for the same position on the Plains, and they’ll also be taking new Gamecocks’ offensive line coach Will Friend with them.

Bobo had just signed two-year, $1.2 million deal to stay on the South Carolina staff earlier this week, while Friend was one of the first offensive hires of the Shane Beamer era. Now, both are gone, meaning the Gamecocks will now need to assemble its offensive staff after it appeared to be complete.

Bobo was with the Gamecocks for one season, where he helped South Carolina’s Kevin Harris lead the SEC in rushing. He took over as interim head coach following the firing of Will Muschamp, but went 0-3 over the team’s final three contests.

Bobo’s departure leaves a huge void on the South Carolina coaching staff, as now the Gamecocks are in search of both an offensive and defensive coordinator. Any progress gained by the offense is now halted, and the team will be forced to learn a new playbook for the second time in as many seasons.

Bobo also has an extremely close relationship with five-star quarterback Gunner Stockton, who’s the only commit in South Carolina’s 2022 recruiting class. It remains to be seen whether he’ll re-open his recruitment or stay with the Gamecocks.

Will Friend becomes a package deal with Bobo, as the two have worked closely together at a number of stops. When Bobo took over as head coach at Colorado State, Friend was his first offensive hire. The two also coached side by side at Georgia. Friend joined the Carolina staff two short weeks ago.

The offensive coaching search in Columbia must now ramp back up. Time will tell the direction Shane Beamer decides to go.