TJ DOTTERY 2026 PROFILE

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📸 by Andre Champagne

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

Producing an SEC-leading 98 total tackles last season, playing multiple years under current 1st year Head Coach Lane Kiffin, the Tigers' 2026 acquisition of linebacker TJ Dottery immediately bolsters their defensive pedigree up another level, bringing in a starter level defender at a position already replete with talent but short on insurance & flexibility.

Now, much like LSU's safety spot, Blake Baker & Chris Kiffin's linebacking corps is loaded with three potential Day 1 starters, Whit Weeks, Davhon Keys and now TJ Dottery all competing for snaps this fall within a system that mostly features 2 linebackers....leaving one Tiger on the outside looking in...

Highlighted by his open field speed, hunting capabilities & stopping power in space, the Human Tackling Turbine possesses all the athletic & mental tools required to become one of LSU's two starting linebackers, as well as the leadership to take the mantle as a veteran & push Blake Baker's defense toward its ultimate apex.

Now at his 3rd school, Dottery seems to have found the right competitive rhythm & nurturing environment in Baton Rouge. Still, more than just pure on field competition, he may have also found a new home with understanding and peace of mind:

An Alabama native, TJ has been through a lot, including a wild situation at his first school, Clemson, one that made Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney dismiss him from the team.

Allegedly, according to various sources, while Dottery was the "victim" of a blackmail scheme, he was also caught taking photos of Clemson teammates inside the locker room, and then sending them to this blackmailer to post on OnlyFans. The blackmailer is now doing prison time, according to these same sources.

While some important questions still remain....why did Dottery think taking photos of teammates would make his situation any easier??? Sure, he is a victim but so are those unknowing teammates he took photos of inside the locker room...

It's not a black and white situation, there is nuance, but there are a few inescapable facts that make things more problematic than simple narratives and platitudes can cover...both in defense & against Dottery.....however, this was 3 years ago, and there is no doubt his teammates at Ole Miss & now LSU trust him regardless of the history.

Swinney's loss was Kiffin's gain as "The Portal King" pursued Dottery when he was at Ole Miss, signed him in Oxford, started him for 2 successful seasons that supplied Ole Miss' best defenses in recent memory, made damn sure to bring him to Baton Rouge, and has now revealed a little more about the off field situation & how he views the bizarre events, calling Dottery "the victim" in the case.

“I just love his story,” Kiffin said about Dottery on February 6th, 2026, “...All the guy does is just continue to work, continue to develop as a player. He has a personal situation that’s been brought up. Especially in this chain of him transferring, it gets re-brought up. It’s something that he was a victim of and something that....people don’t talk about this part....the person that did this to him is now in jail and is unable to do that to other people after doing it to a number of people. He knew in the transfer portal: I can do the comfortable, easy thing and stay here (at Ole Miss). Nobody’s going to re-bring up that story of what happened to me at Clemson,” Kiffin continued, “Or I can go do the challenging thing that will make me uncomfortable...what he believed was the best for him. And he did it....I think that says a lot about him."

Given a second chance, TJ ran with it, totaling 177 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and 27 starts over his past 2 years in Oxford, leading the Rebels to their greatest ever season in 2025 while coached by Chris & Lane Kiffin.

Now at LSU, alongside All-SEC captain Whit Weeks, competing for snaps next to the versatile leading tackler from 2025, Davhon Keys, leading a room that also holds gems like youngest (and maybe most talented) Weeks Brother Zach Weeks, the underrated Tylen Singleton, and highly rated freshman Keylan Moses, the newest member of LSU's linebacking corps could be their most pivotal....not just in terms of solidifying depth, Dottery is more than capable of becoming a primal, brutal X factor for this defensive squad....an over the middle enforcer straight from the top shelf.

As for his past, Dottery will have a massive, once in a lifetime opportunity to go to war against the last remaining whispers of his Clemson dismissal....right off the bat in Week 1.

Is it coincidence or is it God that Dottery's first game as a Tiger will see him face his former team for the first time inside Tiger Stadium, against the Head Coach who once cast him aside, while strapping up for the Head Coach who believed in him when very few still did....

By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN

©️ 2026 Uninterrupted Writings Inc