By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Lane Kiffin made sure to bring one of his defensive stars when he packed for LSU from Ole Miss — senior linebacker TJ Dottery.
Dottery redshirted his freshman season at Clemson, and spent the last three years at Ole Miss. He led the Southeastern Conference with 98 tackles last season, and, for him, following Kiffin to Baton Rouge was a no-brainer.
“The biggest factor for me, honestly, was LSU itself,” Dottery said Thursday at Southeastern Conference Media Days. “Talking about the rich history of defense and talented players they’ve had on both sides of the ball, offense and defense, I felt like that was the opportunity I could see myself being a part of.”
And he has not missed a beat since arriving in Baton Rouge. After a strong spring, Dottery was named a third team Preseason All-SEC player on Friday.
“The transition has been great, honestly,” he said. “I can attest to the the type of people we have on the team from even the returners like the Whit Weeks (linebacker) or Bo Bordelon (offensive guard) guys that know what it’s like to be at LSU and have been here for a while, and them embracing me and telling me to continue to be myself. And I feel like that’s made it the easiest for me, just being able to be myself and be the guy I am.”
Weeks and Dottery will hold down a defense that looks to continue to improve under coordinator Blake Baker in this third season.
“Coach Baker’s amazing,” Dottery said. “His intelligence for the game is phenomenal. And the type of person he is is even better. I can talk to him about anything. And his energy he brings, like him wearing cleats to practice, is awesome, and when we make a play he’s almost on the field with us. The first time I actually made a play he jumped on me and kind of scared me. That energy, I love it.”
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