ATHENS — Former Georgia football coach Mark Richt came out in defense of South Carolina assistant coach Mike Bobo on Sunday.
Former Bulldogs quarterback D.J. Shockley, who played under Bobo at UGA, was quick to follow.
Bobo, a 14-year assistant and former offensive coordinator at Georgia under Richt, faces allegations of racial insensitivity during the course of his five years as the Colorado State head football coach (2015-19).
The Coloradoan newspaper reported players making the allegations of the verbal abuse of players and assistant coaches under Bobo and current Rams’ coach Steve Addazio.
“Mike Bobo was on my UGA staff for the first 14 yrs that I was there,” Richt posted on his Twitter. “During those years I cannot remember receiving 1 complaint from a parent, HS coach or more important student athlete about how he was treated by Mike.
“The same goes for any staff member. Mike blessed UGA!”
Shockley supported his former position coach in his response to Richt’s Tweet.
“No complains here either coach and this is coming from a guy who coached me every day for 5 years!” Shockley said. “One of the most standup guys/coaches I’ve had the chance to be around. He not only cared about me being the best player but an even better man. All luv from me @CoachMikeBobo.”
Bobo was hired by his former Georgia football teammate, South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp, this past offseason to be the Gamecocks offensive coordinator.
While much of the Coloradoan story centered around recent events involving Addazio, the allegations against Bobo were as significant as they were surprising.
According to the Coloradoan article, backup punter Brandon Summer (2015-2018) said he shared concerns about the culture during his exit interview with athletic director Joe Parker.
“Under Bobo and (former defensive coordinator) John Jancek, it was like an angry white man society and they come into college football to take it out on the players,” said Summer, who is white, per the Coloradoan.
“They were racially insensitive but players were concerned about their scholarships and playing time, so many didn’t say anything and that’s not right.”
The Coloradoan cited other instances — unsourced — alleging Bobo was racially insensitive.
South Carolina issued a statement in relation to the Coloradoan report, per the Columbia newspaper, The State:
“We are aware of the allegations made against Mike Bobo while he was the head coach at Colorado State University.
“While there have been no such complaints made against Coach Bobo during his time at South Carolina, we are in the process of doing our due diligence and have already been in contact with the administration at Colorado State and with Coach Bobo to gain more information and to determine the facts.”
Muschamp retweeted several comments in support of Bobo.
Among those commenting were former Georgia QB and Colorado assistant Joe Cox, who Bobo was anonymously accused of being insensitive toward, along with former UGA assistant coach Rodney Garner.
Bobo was a quarterback at Georgia from 1993-1997, finishing his career with the Bulldogs second in the UGA record book in passing yards, pass attempts, pass completes and touchdown passes.
Bobo, the USA Today Georgia High School Player of the Year from Thomasville High School (1993), was a UGA team captain in 1996 and 1997 and the MVP of the 1998 Outback Bowl.
