July 7, 2011
With just two seasons of football, Old Dominion's Edmon McClam can already find his name in the NCAA record books. In the very first game on September 5, 2009, McClam made three blocks on special teams setting the NCAA Division I record for most blocked PATs by a single player in a game. With six career blocks under his belt, he is only one block shy of tying the FCS career record.
Last season, the Coward, South Carolina native registered 23 tackles (8 solo, 15 assisted), had 4.5 tackles for a loss of 15 yards, including a nine-yard sack at Monmouth and a six-yard sack against Savannah State.
Q: What are your plans for the summer?
A: My plans for this summer are to get bigger, faster, stronger, and learn more about football. I meet with Coach Rondeau every morning and we go over blocking schemes, different formations and personnel. It's helping me out a whole lot.
Q: What is your major and what do you want to do with it after graduation?
A: My major is communications and I love working with people so I plan on working in some type of personal relations field.
Q: How important is special teams to the Monarchs?
A: It's very important. I think we won at least three to four games just off of special teams. That's something we work on a whole lot around here. As you all see from games and practices, that's something we spend a lot of time on.
Q: What goes through your mind on special teams - especially on those blocks?
A: The thing that's going through my mind is `don't miss', because if you miss that field goal or extra point, it could be critical. Mostly it's just focusing on getting past the lineman first and getting to a point where you can just slither through. Then you need to make sure you get both hands up. I kind of have big hands so that helps a lot.
Q: How have you seen yourself improve?
A: I've gotten faster and stronger. I've learned to recognize things faster. The game is coming more easy to me. Other than that, it's been becoming a better football player, just overall. Every year I've been improving.
Q: What is your most memorable moment as a Monarch?
A: There's a lot of them. First is getting that NCAA record in the first game. It was a good feeling. Then, I'd have to say every time I get a sack is a favorite moment too.
Q: When did you first start playing football?
A: You don't have to go too much further past 2009. I started playing in '05 when I was 16. I was in the marching band. The coach tried talking my mama into having me play football since my freshman year of high school. My freshman year I was 6-0, 225. I was in the band and the coaches were like `no, no, we can't have you in the band.' They met with her and my mama kept telling me that the coaches kept calling her and talking to her - `can your son play football, please?' She didn't want me playing football. She said everyone out there looked too big, yet I was probably going to be one of the biggest guys out there. She was always scared her baby was going to get hurt. Whenever she comes to the games now she's says `dang, you look bigger than everyone else."
Q: What advice would you give a high school student looking to play football in college?
A: First thing - academics. They have to have the grades. If you don't have the grades, no school is going to want you. Whenever we work camps, that's the first thing I tell the kids - if you don't have the grades coming out of high school, you're not going to have a chance to play college football. Second has to be work ethic. If you are not willing to work, you aren't going to get to the place you want to get. A lot of kids say they want to play Division I football, but you better be working at a Division I level if you want to play Division I football. It's not easy. We just don't come here and walk out there on Saturdays and play and have the performances we have. You don't get to 17-5 and not work hard.
Q: How have you seen the defense develop since first coming to ODU?
A: We went from getting a stop or two and letting offense do the rest to `okay, offense score as much as you want to score, but were not going to let them come close.' That's our mental make up right now. We don't want any team getting past our front forward. Our defense as a whole has taken on the mentality that we are going to be the best in the nation - that's our goal, that's our plan.
Q: What are goals for the upcoming season?
A: My goal is to be named to an All-CAA team. Also, I want to be one of the leaders in sacks. Got to set the ceiling high.
Q: What is your favorite Bobby Wilder saying?
A: There's too many of them. You've got "Aim High", "PMA"... I'll take one from practice - "SUDDEN CHANGE". Everytime you hear him yell "Sudden Change" you know it's going to be fun.
Q: What does PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) mean to you?
A: That means don't get down on yourself or your teammates. Always think positive. Always have an upbeat mindset. Like Coach Wilder says, you can't just take PMA and think of it on the football field, you have to think about it in life as well. If you are struggling at one point or having a bad day you still have to have a positive mental attitude because you don't want to bring everyone else down around you.
Look for more Monarch Football Q&A's this summer. Tweet us at @ODUFootball and let us know which Monarchs you want to see and questions to ask.