It didn’t take Shane Beamer very long to find a qualified candidate to serve as his first director of recruiting operations in Columbia.

The position at South Carolina was available after Drew Hughes left the program to join Steve Sarkisian’s new Texas staff but it appears the Gamecocks have managed to swap one solid recruiting staffer for another.

That’s because South Carolina is expected to name Maryland’s Taylor Edwards as the program’s new director of recruiting operations. This news was first reported by Matt Zenitz of AL.com.

Edwards served two seasons at Maryland and comes with some SEC experience as he previously worked for Arkansas in the Razorbacks recruiting department.

During his two seasons at Maryland, the Terps finished with the Big Ten’s No. 6 recruiting class in the 2020 recruiting cycle and the Big Ten’s No. 4 recruiting class during the 2021 recruiting cycle (which has yet to officially end with the upcoming National Signing Day upcoming).

If Edwards can manage to help Maryland finish with a top 20 recruiting class (the program is currently ranked No. 18), just imagine what he can help accomplish at South Carolina.