Gamecocks DT Dexter Wideman focused on team over own goals

As South Carolina defensive tackle Dexter Wideman thought back on his offseason, he zeroed in on the mornings.

They started at 5:30, trucking over to workouts, busting his backside as he tries to get things going.

“Sometimes, you might wake up and not feel like going hard that morning to work,” Wideman said. “But to be a winning team and to get to where we want to be, to what we need to be, I have to get up every morning and grind.”

The Saluda High product and former four-star prospect shied away from focusing on his own experiences in the last year, always steering things back to team.

He spentlast season redshirting, following a year at Camden Military Academy. The Under Armour All-America had flipped to Gamecocks on signing day, slipping away from Florida State’s top-5 class.

In the spring and offseason, coaches said they wanted more consistency from Wideman, who at his best is explosive in the middle at 6-foot-4, 280 pounds. He said that became a focus for him.

“Just to keep my effort up and just to keep going hard every play, like I do,” Wideman said. “Just to play hard, and everything else will handle itself.”

But he quickly said he doesn’t plan to be an every-down player. Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said he aims to rotate defensive linemen heavily, and Wideman seemed in tune with the plan.

The second-year lineman seemed to take much of the new staff’s arrival as a chance for a fresh start.

“Everything is totally new,” Wideman said. “New everything. We’re going to take advantage of it and go out and show the world what we can do.”

His chances at playing time, however, run through a glut of experienced players. The team has five defensive tackles with some seasoning, all upperclassmen. Out of spring, Kelsey Griffin, Ulric Jones, Taylor Stallworth and Abu Lamin made the two-deep, with rotation player Dante Sawyer returning from injury.

Wideman knows he’ll get his chance, but despite the considerable hype he had coming in, he’s not talking much about his own path.

“I’m going to get a lot of snaps, but right now, no one really knows,” Wideman said of practice. “And really it doesn’t matter about how many snaps or when you’re going to get in. Because right now, we’re focusing on the team and whatever makes the team better and helps us win, that’s what coach Muschamp will do.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Gamecocks DT Dexter Wideman focused on team over own goals."