Q&A: 2023 Northwood (Shreveport) DL TaDerius Collins
TaDerius Collins TaDerius Collins 6'4" | 245 lbs | DL Northwood (Shreveport) | 2023 State LA has quickly become one of Louisiana’s fastest-rising, hottest names to watch in the 2023 class. The agile, versatile defensive standout — among a few…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingTaDerius Collins TaDerius Collins 6'4" | 245 lbs | DL Northwood (Shreveport) | 2023 State LA has quickly become one of Louisiana’s fastest-rising, hottest names to watch in the 2023 class.
The agile, versatile defensive standout — among a few in a strong rising senior class at Northwood (Shreveport) — continued to fly under the recruiting radar despite an impressive sophomore season and subsequent offseason, but has picked up more than a dozen offers in the past two and a half months.
Missouri recently became the second SEC program to join that list, joining Mississippi State.
Collins also holds offers from Louisiana Tech, Louisiana (Lafayette), Tulane, ULM, Northwestern State in state and Louisville, Memphis, Indiana, Minnesota, Arkansas State, UCF, Tulsa and Southern Miss out of state.
Here’s some of a recent conversation as he prepares to visit LSU for the Tigers’ spring game Saturday.
What’s been going on? How’s the spring been treating you?
It’s been going great. I’ve been getting a lot of track work in, getting faster. It’s just been great.
I saw your sophomore film and you’re out there at 6-4, whatever you were weighing as a sophomore and moving so well out in space, and that’s kind of where you caught my attention. And then you come back so much stronger and so much more locked in as a defensive end and were still able to use some of those quickness and fluidity aspects to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Take me through some of your development throughout your high school career, particularly during the last year to keep growing into the player you’re going to be at the next level.
I can really start my freshman year. When I came in my freshman year, I was 6-2, probably 190, and I was a wide receiver, so I’ve always been athletic from the start. My sophomore year, I bulked up and went to the other side of the ball. My coach had me as an outside linebacker, and that’s where I made a lot of noise. And then this coming year, I bulked up even more and put on even more muscle and moved to the defensive end spot. Just the development of me, it’s helped me during the whole process because already being athletic, I’m just adding on weight and being a great player.
Did you grow up as — I mean even before you got to high school — primarily a wide receiver or perimeter type player?
Yes, sir. I’ve always been a wide receiver or a defensive end. I always played defensive end in little league. It’s just when I got to middle school and hit my growth spurt, I got really tall and was really skinny, so that’s when I really just started playing wide receiver was my freshman year.
When did you realize you were going to have an opportunity to be a high-level player, somebody that was going to be hearing from colleges by the end of high school and that some of these opportunities were going to present themselves for you?
I’ve been knowing since first of all my uncle always telling me I was going to be something and my stepdad always pushed me. He was the main one pushing me and making me believe I was actually gonna be something one day and I was actually going to be one of those top recruited players one day. And it just stuck with me. And I’d say probably seventh- or eighth-grade year when I first started really taking training really, that’s when I first started to notice, “Yeah, I can really do this.”
How much has that support system helped you throughout? To have everyone around you, whether it be football-wise or just in general being there to offer guidance, advice and encouragement, what have they meant? What would you say to them?
It means a lot. The main ones who have been there from the start, I’m really thankful for them, because without them I wouldn’t have had the motivation or energy to do whatever I’m doing now. The place that I come from, it’s really easy to fall into the street. But the motivation coming from people around me, such as my family and other people around me, they really helped me out.
So as you guys start to envision these big future plans for you, did you always know it was going to be a bulk up and be a defensive lineman situation or when you were younger were you thinking, “OK, I may end up being a wide receiver”?
First off, when I was younger and I played football, I also played tight end. And when I hit my growth spurt, I just thought, “I’m just a big wide receiver. I’m just becoming a big wide receiver.” I always thought I’d be a wide receiver, because I always trained to be a wide receiver. And I was just getting more athletic as a wide receiver.
What has the work looked like? You mention about bulking up the last couple years, but especially the last year and growing into this defensive end that we’re watching right now, what were some of the things you did whether it be some of the diet piece or your workout routine or some of the more technical skill side of stuff that you worked on? What did the last year look like for you to take these next steps of progress?
It was pretty much everything. First off, Northwood has a great strength and conditioning program, so my coach, we were on that protein heavy. And our strength program just helped us out a lot in just bulking up and adding on muscle without getting slower. So we’re bulking up and staying more athletic and getting even better. Northwood’s just got one of the best programs.
You’ve received several scholarship offers the last couple of months — I think 14 or 15 the last two months. When those finally started to hit, what were those days like? Northwestern State was the first, and then they started to come pretty quickly from there. Take me through some of what that meant to you and what the reaction was like around the house and around the school?
It meant a lot to me, because of going back to where I’m from. A lot of people just don’t go to college from where I’m from. So the reaction around me in my community and my family, it was big, like ’If he can do it, we can do it.’ It was just a great reaction from everyone, including me, because once you get that first one, you just feel relieved. It was a good experience for me. I’m still learning in the recruiting process.
You had had a chance to get to some schools last summer, and I thought had some good performances out at some camps last June. You mentioned the relief of finally getting the first one. Did it start to get kind of stressful at points during last offseason and heading into the season and wondering when that first one was going to come after having some good performances?
For me, I always stay humble. My stepdad always preaches to me, “Always stay humble, because your time will come. Everybody’s time will come.” So I was just being patient. My stepdad was always behind me, ’It’s gonna come. Just be patient. Keep working. Keep working.’ And my coaches, they told me the same thing, “Just keep working.”