Trotter making himself at home in Clemson

Trotter loves it at Clemson.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Fri Sep 17 13:12:04 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – There certainly aren't a lot of similarities between Clemson, South Carolina, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is already feeling right at home.

The freshman linebacker knew early on in the recruiting process that Clemson was the place he wanted to spend his college career, which is why Trotter didn't waste any time publicly announcing his commitment.

"I decided Clemson was for me when I came down for the camp," Trotter told the media earlier this week. "After performing at the camp, I thought I did pretty well, and Coach Venables liked what he saw. When I went on the tour around campus and everything the coaches were talking to me about, I knew for sure this was the place for me because it has all of the values that I was looking for. I was 100-percent sure that I had to commit, which is why I committed so early in my process."

So far, Clemson has lived up to the billing and has been everything he expected.

"The culture they have here. They had a lot of the stuff I was looking for as far as a brotherhood," Trotter said. "Everybody was helping each other out as soon as I got here. James Skalski helped me learn the playbook. Baylon Spector is here helping me out. The coaches love their players. They really care about the players. Whether you're a walk-on or the starter, they're going to show the same interest to you and make sure you're handling your business."

That doesn't mean the transition to small-town life has been completely smooth, though.

"The transition has been a little bit different," he said. "Up there, where I came from, I feel like there was a little more where I lived rather than here at Clemson. On-campus, there are not too many areas to just go hang out, but I still love it down here. It's a great experience. I just love the combination of athletics and academics here."

Trotter is the son of the Jeremiah Trotter, Sr. – the 12-year NFL veteran and four-time Pro Bowl linebacker – but the younger Trotter said his dad gave him advice when asked but mostly chose to stay in the background of his recruitment.

"My dad just tried to sit back and let me take in my recruitment," Trotter said. "He gave me some tips on what to look for and whatnot, but other than that, he let me decide where I wanted to. He was more just in the background."

Now that he's on campus, Trotter looks to his dad for advice on the field to go along with the coaching that he receives from linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

"He lets the coaches coach, but he still gives me tips because he has so much experience from playing in the league," he said. "I try to listen to him because I know what he's done and what he's accomplished, so I try to take that all in. It's great to be able to ask questions and get small tips that not everybody has access to. I try to soak it all up and use it out there on the field whenever I need to."

Trotter made his Clemson debut on special teams against Georgia but saw his first action at linebacker against South Carolina State. He tallied five tackles and recorded his first sack.