For T.J. Neal, moving from the University of Illinois to Auburn has been a relatively smooth process. Except for one thing.
“The weather,” Neal said. “The weather. But the facilities, the coaches coach you very hard. There’s a lot of great talent here. I think it’s a great place other than being very hot every day.”
The linebacker committed to the Tigers in February after spending three years with Illinois. In his last year with the Illini defense, he registered 109 tackles and 14 tackles for loss, but he elected to transfer elsewhere when the coaching staff decided to change his position.
After spending some time looking around, Neal decided to head down south and finish his playing career with Auburn, where he will play out his last year of eligibility.
"It was a great opportunity to come here and compete for some playing time, playing in this big-time conference,” Neal said. “It was the right fit."
That fit involves something more than just getting some playing time.
Neal is expected to anchor the middle of the Auburn defense along with Tre’ Williams, but he’s had to adjust to being the vocal leader of a brand new team.
"I think it's coming along well, but I'm still getting comfortable with the terminology,” Neal said. “It ain't so much playing football. It's the verbiage of communicating to others of what's going on. Being a linebacker, the quarterback of the defense, you've got to know everybody's job. I'm fine with what I have to do, but I've got to get more comfortable what the guys got to do around me...I'm slowly doing it. I still want to gain the respect of others. I don't want to overstep my boundary since I haven't been here. I want to slowly continue to work into the leadership role."
Neal will have some work to do if he hopes to turn around a defense that ranked 71st in the nation in yards allowed per game.
However, that hasn’t deterred him from setting some lofty goals.
"The sky is the limit,” Neal said. “You know, it'll be a top 5 defense. We can have fun. We just still working and still everyday making progress to be the best defense we can be...each year, you want to set the standards high for your defense, for your offense and just for your team in general. You want to set the standards high. We're striving for it every day to get better, to get there. That's just one of the things that I think we can be able to do."
Multi-year starters Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost left some big shoes to fill, but so far, Neal is up to the task.
He’s just got to adjust to that Alabama heat.
"During practice, I get through practice,” Neal said. “I make my plays. I have fun during practice. After practice, I'm very tired. I'm exhausted right now. I'm ready to lay down and go to sleep."
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