LSU transfer offers high praise for Tigers' defensive coordinator

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TJ Dottery transferred to LSU football, following head coach Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss. The fifth-year senior built a positive relationship with defensive coordinator Blake Baker, whom he called "awesome."

"He's intelligent and he's played the linebacker position so he knows it," Dottery said. "Him as a person is just even greater in terms of how he is, how he carries himself. You can talk to him about anything."

Since Baker arrived in Baton Rouge prior to the 2024 season, the Tigers made significant strides on defense. Despite getting attention from head coach searches after last season, he decided to stay with Kiffin and continue building with new players like Dottery.

The former Rebels' linebacker brings two years of starting experience to a front seven where he'll play with Whit Weeks, forming one of the most experienced linebacker duos in the country. He will be one of as many as eight new faces making a start for LSU in 2026.

Dottery appears to be comfortable in his new home already, thanks in part to Baker. The energy brought by the defensive coordinator creates an environment unlike any Dottery played in before.

"He wears cleats to practice all the time," Dottery said. "I made a play the first day I was out there and he almost jumped on my back, like came on the field and he scared me because I thought it was did something wrong. I just hadn't had that from anyone before. That's excitement and it's awesome to go out there and play for somebody like that."

This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: LSU transfer offers high praise for Tigers' defensive coordinator

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