Ryan Hilinski’s South Carolina career started with a ton of fanfare, but by the end of his first season in Columbia, many Gamecock fans were eager to see what they were getting in incoming freshman signee, Luke Doty.

Of course, South Carolina also added Colorado State graduate transfer quarterback Collin Hill this offseason, and considering his familiarity with first-year Gamecock offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s system, the former Ram signal-caller has some buzz heading into training camp in Columbia.

If Hilinski is going to remain the starter in Columbia, which is not a given considering Will Muschamp said the competition under center is open at South Carolina, the rising sophomore is going to have to earn it.

According to the second-year quarterback, that’s the case when it comes to executing Mike Bobo’s offense.

“He requires a lot out of you, he requires near perfection,” Hilinski said following the first day of South Carolina’s training camp on Tuesday. “If you’re not at perfection, the whole offense is messed up. You mess up one thing, you know, here or there, it’s wrong.

“So he demands perfection, and he’s really, you know, good guy off the field. He talks to you about devotionals, he talks to you about a lot of good stuff, asks about your family but when it comes to football time, we’re full go, we’re fully invested. He requires the most of us and I love his on-the-field coaching. He gets fired up a lot, which is good for us, for sure.”

When asked about the progression of his game from his first season to now, Hilinski admits he had a lot to work on during the offseason.

“Whether I’m a freshman or, you know, a senior, I want to win every game. That’s my expectation, of course,” Hilinski continued. “Watching some of the film with Coach Bobo, and some of it’s hard to watch. Because I know I could have done better on some of the plays. I know I could have made a better throw. I know it could have made a better progression. I know I could have scrambled on some plays.

“You know I do love the plays that were great, you know those, those are good things improve upon you got to acknowledge those, but I’d rather look at, you know, a lot of the bad stuff that you know I can improve upon. But I think you know once we improve upon those little things, after watching film, which we’re doing, it’s going to be a way better season this year and we’re excited.”