He was a productive high school pass rusher. Why Muschamp has him at a different spot
Gilber Edmond’s high school stats are fairly eye-opening.
A player who split time between receiver and defensive end through much of high school, he focused on defense as a senior and rolled up 17 sacks and 22 tackles for loss with a slew of takeaways. Considering South Carolina is losing two of its top three players at its most pure edge-rushing position, there seemed to be some logic in Edmond finding his way there. But he’ll be plugging in elsewhere, as coach Will Muschamp sees a future for him at linebacker.
“I’m going to look at him inside,” Muschamp said. “I think his space play and the way he runs in space and plays in space, he’s only about 205 pounds right now, 208 maybe. So, he’s a guy that does have pass-rush ability from his high school tape, but to see his space play was what excited me.”
He was listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds in the official signing day release, which would have been on the outside edge of being able to bulk up to that position.
At that size, he’s on the tall, skinny side of an inside linebacker, although fellow linebacker signee Mohamed Kaba is also tall at 6-foot-2. And Edmond addresses a need that wasn’t answered in the first signing day in December.
“We, really, right now only have seven scholarship linebackers,” Muschamp said. “We only signed Mohamed Kaba at the position. I felt like I wanted to take another inside guy. We are projecting a little bit with him. You see the attributes of length and speed, and that’s what you like on tape. He will stick his face in the fan, which is good. So, those are some attributes we like.”
This isn’t the first time the staff has taken a high school pass rusher and moved him back. Damani Staley posted 29 sacks as a high school senior and ended up playing mostly weak-side linebacker during his three years on campus.
How Edmond ended up a Gamecock is an odd story to say the least. The team had been after him for a few weeks but couldn’t promise him a spot.
He told SportsTalkSC that coaches couldn’t promise a spot Tuesday night, but could Wednesday morning, just ahead of his planned time to sign with South Florida.
Muschamp didn’t directly address the process by which Edmond joined the class, but he did talk about late-rising prospects such as Edmond and wide receiver Ger-Cari Caldwell.
“They played extremely well and you’ll get recognized, people will find you,” Muschamp said. “As much social media and different interactions you can have on film now. So, to find those guys and start recruiting ‘em and get to know ‘em a little bit better, and feel more comfortable about bringing them to Columbia, to the University of South Carolina, and bringing them into our locker room. And our staff felt very good in both situations about both players.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 6:15 PM with the headline "He was a productive high school pass rusher. Why Muschamp has him at a different spot."
