Byron Jerideau went from working at South Carolina for free to now living out a dream at his alma mater

On3 imageby:Mike Uva05/23/22

Mike_Uva

The newest episode to the podcast series “BLEAV in South Carolina” with ⁦me, Marcus Lattimore, and Nick Klos on the BLEAV Network is live.

On this week’s episode South Carolina assistant strength and conditioning coach Byron Jerideau joins us. A former defensive lineman for the Gamecocks, Jerideau shares his journey to USC including a challenging upbringing and how it’s allowed him to live out a dream. In addition, he explains what helped make the defense so successful when he played here and what direction the program is heading in under Shane Beamer’s second season as head coach.

After spending the 2015 season as an assistant strength coach for Appalachian State football, Jerideau could tell he needed a change.

“It made me not want to work (in) football. To the point that I submitted my 30-day notice and I left… Just things on staff. That’s as deep as I’m going with it. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.”

At just 26 years old with no clue what the future had in store for him, he reached out to then South Carolina football strength and conditioning coach Jeff Dillman.

“I called coach Dillman and I came to South Carolina. I interned for Dillman. When I was first here at South Carolina, that first year I worked for free. I left App State, a full-time job, to come to South Carolina and I worked for free. I worked for free for 12 months.”

A once defensive standout for USC and a member of San Diego Chargers in 2013, Jerideau found himself working from the bottom of the ladder. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he embraced the grind and stayed positive. A skill he credits learning from his mother at a young age.

“We’re on a morning schedule. When I was on (Will) Muschamp’s staff you’d get into the building at 5, 6 a.m. You have practice in the morning. After practice you have a post-practice lift. Well, I’m doing that for free. Then I would go over to Stanley Steemer and I’m working with Suzanne Pucci cleaning carpets from (noon) until 6 or 7 p.m. (At) 7 p.m. I’m going to Seawell’s to do catering until 8 or 9 at night, sometimes later. Then the next day you just do the same thing… Just to make some money to pay the bills to pursue the dream and the passion that I have.”

The Green Pond, S.C. native worked at USC for two years before receiving his first big SEC break in 2018.

“It was tough but then I started getting these part-time deals from the university; part-time in recruiting, I was helping out with the D-line, weight room. Then the opportunity came to go to the University of Tennessee. That’s when I was like, ‘okay, here it is.’ Tennessee was awesome. Those three years got me to where I am today.”

Jerideau returned to his alma mater last year and heads into his second season as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Gamecocks.

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