What Gamecocks coaches are telling Ryan Hilinski about plans for him, offensive tweaks
December 12, 2018
It’s an odd scene: Breakfast with South Carolina coaches Will Muschamp, Bryan McClendon and Dan Werner in a serene corner of California.
But that was life early this week for Gamecocks quarterback commit Ryan Hilinski.
“It’s always good when you get to see the three most important coaches in your future and you go to breakfast with them,” Hilinski said in an interview with SportsTalk on Monday.
Hilinski is a week away from signing, which he’ll do at the World Bowl all-star game in Mexico City. His family has already moved out of the house he grew up in and will move into a house in the Columbia area in early January.
While meeting with the coaches, one obvious topic quickly came up.
“We just talked about some of the pieces that we’re missing in this recruiting class,” Hilinski said “A couple DBs, a couple linemen. There was a lot of football talk and a lot of stories, of course.”
Hilinski has been committed since April. He’s received interest from a slew of top schools but stayed with his USC pledge and has been a vocal proponent of the school, especially on social media and especially in recruiting.
The staff also came bearing something to help get Hilinski through the next few weeks before he officially joins the team.
“Coach Werner also brought a basic install of the playbook,” Hilinski said. “So I’ve got like 100 pages downstairs that I’m going to be studying for the next week, two weeks before I actually enroll. And coach B-Mac, we just talked about some stuff that he’s going to change in the offense in the near future.”
USC’s current offense is a high-paced spread that relies more on the pass than run and heavily on the run-pass option game. Hilinski’s arrival will give USC a range of quarterback styles, and that could mean some tweaks.
Incumbent starter Jake Bentley is mobile enough to be a solid but not that dynamic run threat. Backups Jay Urich and Dakereon Joyner are pure dual-threat guys, while Hilinski is still working to improve as a run threat.
Last season, Hilinski threw for 2,771 yards and 29 scores, but only carried the ball five times for 12 yards. He said he’s spent the offseason focused on improving his mobility and agility, working every day on his speed.
December 12, 2018
It’s an odd scene: Breakfast with South Carolina coaches Will Muschamp, Bryan McClendon and Dan Werner in a serene corner of California.
But that was life early this week for Gamecocks quarterback commit Ryan Hilinski.
“It’s always good when you get to see the three most important coaches in your future and you go to breakfast with them,” Hilinski said in an interview with SportsTalk on Monday.
Hilinski is a week away from signing, which he’ll do at the World Bowl all-star game in Mexico City. His family has already moved out of the house he grew up in and will move into a house in the Columbia area in early January.
While meeting with the coaches, one obvious topic quickly came up.
“We just talked about some of the pieces that we’re missing in this recruiting class,” Hilinski said “A couple DBs, a couple linemen. There was a lot of football talk and a lot of stories, of course.”
Hilinski has been committed since April. He’s received interest from a slew of top schools but stayed with his USC pledge and has been a vocal proponent of the school, especially on social media and especially in recruiting.
The staff also came bearing something to help get Hilinski through the next few weeks before he officially joins the team.
“Coach Werner also brought a basic install of the playbook,” Hilinski said. “So I’ve got like 100 pages downstairs that I’m going to be studying for the next week, two weeks before I actually enroll. And coach B-Mac, we just talked about some stuff that he’s going to change in the offense in the near future.”
USC’s current offense is a high-paced spread that relies more on the pass than run and heavily on the run-pass option game. Hilinski’s arrival will give USC a range of quarterback styles, and that could mean some tweaks.
Incumbent starter Jake Bentley is mobile enough to be a solid but not that dynamic run threat. Backups Jay Urich and Dakereon Joyner are pure dual-threat guys, while Hilinski is still working to improve as a run threat.
Last season, Hilinski threw for 2,771 yards and 29 scores, but only carried the ball five times for 12 yards. He said he’s spent the offseason focused on improving his mobility and agility, working every day on his speed.