As we just went over, Gilman and the Irish went to halftime still trailing that regular season finale to USC, 10-7.
It’d be one thing to walk into a locker and demand that “hey, we got this” or “everything’s gravy, we just stopped them” or whatever Gilman and others could have done.
That’s not the kind of leader Alohi Gilman is however and to me, that’s what will be missed most about him. More on that later, here’s what he had to say to his teammates at halftime that night in Los Angeles:
Alohi Gilman halftime speech pic.twitter.com/7EMDFFMlAt
— Jac Collinsworth (@JacCollinsworth) November 27, 2018
We can sit and analyze what it means to lose Gilman strictly from a skill-standpoint all winter and summer long. With the level of talent Brian Kelly’s staff has brought into the secondary recently, that’s not where I worry.
What’s hard to account for is who takes over that leadership roll?
When things hit the fan and the wheels appear to be coming off, who steps up and demands the respect of the room and begins to stop the bleeding?
Gilman was fantastic at exactly that and No. 11 will be missed next season.