There is a lot of history at the linebacker position in Josiah Trotter’s family.
His father, Jeremiah Trotter, played 11 seasons in the NFL and produced six seasons with at least 110 tackles and his brother, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., just finished his first year in the NFL and won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, the same team Sr. played for for eight of his 11 seasons across three stints.
Now, Josiah is trying to make his own name, while living up to the family standard.
“The standard is high, I carry that on my shoulders every day,” Josiah Trotter said. “Not only the last name, but who I am and I just want to raise the standard every time and set the standard whenever I’m on that football field or in the weight room or whatever I may be doing.”
Trotter certainly lived up to that high standard in his first season on the field at West Virginia. After missing his true freshman season with an injury to his leg suffered during his first spring practice season, Trotter jumped into a starting spot and racked up 93 total tackles and an interception, earning himself Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and making the Freshman All-American team.
And though it took Trotter an extra year to begin to show his capabilities on the field, he said he appreciates the extra time and perspective the injury gave him.
“I think that whole process really helped me, if I could go back, I wouldn’t change it,” Trotter said. “One of the biggest things it taught me was to be closer to God. And also taking the time away just to realize what I really wanted, kind of knowing that you can’t take anything for granted. The lesson was to go out there and work out or go out to practice even when you are hurting and sore … and also it just lights a fire in you when you can’t be out there playing and practicing and doing what you want to do.”
After his stunning redshirt freshman season, Trotter hit the portal, though he said he wanted to give West Virginia a chance through the Mountaineers’ coaching change, but he found his way to Columbia and a stacked linebacker room.
There was another change on the coaching horizon for Trotter as the Tigers brought in Derek Nicholson to lead the linebacker room after his commitment. Trotter said the addition of Nicholson only helped him moving forward into spring ball.
“I actually talked to him pretty early when I was in the portal and he was at Miami,” Trotter said of Nicholson. “It’s cool to see how things work out, he ends up coming here. Great coach, great energy, you can tell he loves the game. He’s a former player, he knows his ball. I love having him as a coach. Great guy you can also go talk to and he’s not only going to talk about ball, he’s going to talk about life, you know, … just help you in different ways in life and kind of just how to implement different things into you not just as a football player, but as a man.”
Now, Trotter will have a chance to play a key role on a defense he said he believes will be one of the best in the conference. He said, front-to-back, the Tigers have excellent talent on that side of the ball and have the chance for greatness.
“I think we have the chance to be not only one of the best in the SEC, but one of the best defenses in the country,” Trotter said. “There’s a lot of talent in that room from up front all the way to the back end.”
And Trotter will be a key part of that talented defense as he continues to embrace the challenge of living up to two NFL players in the family.
“From a younger age, having my dad and now my brother in the NFL, being in the shadows of two great players, I embrace it,” Trotter said. “Every day, I have a chip on my shoulder to outwork anybody around me and to also be better than what my dad and my brother were. They always help me, coach me up, help me with the little things. I just embrace it, what else can you do but embrace it?”
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