Josiah Trotter is hard to miss on a football field. Whether because of his size, his play, or what he does after making a great play.
A certain member of the Missouri Tigers’ linebacker group has been standing out to his teammates during fall practice.
And it’s for a reason that’s hard to miss.
“That guy, he’s a dog man,” Missouri linebacker Khalil Jacobs said of new Tiger linebacker Josiah Trotter. “He flashes every day. It’s kind of hard not to see him, because, you know, he’s always growling after he makes a play.”
“I wouldn’t say, more or less, like maybe a growl, it’s like maybe a yell, something like that,” Trotter said. “But it’s not really a growl, but just getting excited after plays.”
Whether it’s a real growl or not, Trotter has jumped directly into being a key piece of the Missouri linebacker room.
Choosing Mizzou
After transferring from West Virginia following a Freshman All-American season, Trotter had a lot of possible landing spots when he hit the transfer portal. But some old familial connections convinced him to come to Columbia for his redshirt sophomore season.
“I had a lot of opportunities, I took a lot of different visits, and you know what really stood out was the running back coach, coach (Curtis Luper) I already knew him and his family,” Trotter said. “Just him being close to my dad. So once they reached out and kind of just coming down here on a visit, everything just stuck out like the scheme and what I was going to accomplish coming here.”
But once he got to Columbia, there were more people Trotter already knew than Luper.
He played against transfer quarterback Beau Pribula in the Pennsylvania State Championship game in high school, then once again last year when West Virginia and Penn State matched up in Week 1. But he also knew sophomore linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez before joining the Tigers.
“Cool story about Nick, I actually hosted him when I was at West Virginia, and I was trying to get him to West Virginia,” Trotter said. “It’s crazy, now I’m here. … as a young guy, … he flies around, has great instincts and just real playmaker attributes for him.”
Adjusting
But now Trotter is adjusting to life in what is regularly considered the best conference in college football. Trotter said early life in the SEC hasn’t had as much of an adjustment physically compared to the Big 12. But there has been some necessary adjustments.
“The challenge really is just adjusting to the different type of play styles. … Different type of schemes I’m facing as far as like offensive schemes,” Trotter said.
Born to play linebacker
But through any challenges, Trotter can turn to his father, long-time NFL linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Sr., or older brother, current Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. if he has any issues at the position.
“It’s just a blessing, not only having my father, but my brother, too,” Trotter said. “Someone who I can ask questions to and who can continue to help me along the way. … pressure is a privilege, I just take it on like I have since I was younger and just continue to stay true to myself.”
And with that long legacy of the linebacker position throughout the family, there was no chance Trotter was going to play any other position when he got on the footbal field.
“I think we were bred and pretty much born to play linebacker at this point,” Trotter said. “From mentality and a physical standpoint, we were bred not only to play this game, but to play linebacker.”
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Category: General Sports
