Gilber Edmond's Dedication Has Prepared Him

From a position change to waiting in the wings, Gilber Edmond has long been preparing for his opportunity to be a starter on South Carolina's defensive line.

With every group working towards a common goal, you always have a person who in the minds of others is ready for the current moment the group is dealing with. Multiple players are sometimes ready, causing some contributors to go overlooked.

This is a perfect way to describe how defensive end Gilber Edmond finds himself as one of the presumptive starters on the Gamecock defensive line going forward after Jordan Strachan suffered a season-ending injury against Arkansas. For Gilber, the spontaneity of him being put in the game against Arkansas didn't affect him like most fans would think because even when he wasn't in the game, he was still at work.

“You have to prepare to put yourself in that position, but what I was doing was I was envisioning myself being in that position. So I was taking a lot of mental reps while [Strachan] was on the field and I was on the sideline," Edmond explained at his Tuesday presser. "So when he actually went down, it was easy because I kinda already put myself in that position.”

To say Edmond's journey to this point has been quite unconventional would be the understatement of the year, as Gilber switched from wide receiver to defensive end in his senior year of high school. It was this rare move that showcased how Edmond mentally views these types of situations.

"Senior year, I kinda had this mentality cause my coach had already let me know that he was gonna switch me. So I was like ‘no matter what position I’m playing, I have to go 100 [percent] and be good at it if I wanna get out [there]... just learn it and try to be good at it'. That’s what I’ve been trying to do, learning from other guys about playing the position and trying to add it to my game."

His mentality of how he works off the field hasn't gone unnoticed by the man who leads the program, head coach Shane Beamer.

"He just keeps his mouth shut, [you] don’t really notice him and [he] just works, and I thought he did some really good things on Saturday [against Georgia]... So if he’s able to continue to do that, play with the physicality and strength that he needs to against the run, he’ll continue to be a great player.”

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