Note: The following appears in the LSU football gameday program.
Junior defensive end T.J. Parker enters the 2025 season as an anchor of the Tigers’ defense. His football journey began when he was four years old, when his mother first introduced him to the game.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing at first…I just knew that I could fly around the field and hit people. I loved being out there and knew it was something I wanted to do for a long time.”
Before arriving on campus in 2023, Parker attended Central High School in Phenix City, Ala. and was as a four-star recruit. When it came time to make a college decision, Parker said the values his father taught him led him to choose Clemson.
“With my dad being in the military, he taught me a lot about life and maintaining a strong work ethic and how I can correlate that to being a great football player. I saw that Clemson shared a lot of those values when I visited and met the coaches, so the decision was a no-brainer.”
Parker played 13 games as a freshman, recording 12.5 tackles for loss and a recovered fumble in the Tigers’ Gator Bowl victory against Kentucky. During his sophomore season, he totaled a team-high 11 sacks and set a school record by causing six fumbles. However, his greatest accomplishment came off the gridiron.
“Proposing to my fiancé (former Tiger volleyball player Aźyah Dailey) has been my favorite memory at Clemson so far and was definitely my most important goal. Coach (Dabo) Swinney told me in high school that I could achieve every goal I want in life and outside of football. To be able to meet my future wife here and compete for championships makes this place very special to me.”
The Tigers head into the 2025 season ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, a signal of high expectations for the team, and a chance to compete for another one of Parker’s goals…winning a national championship. For Parker, all of the work is still ahead of him and his teammates.
“We still have to go out there and prove it. It doesn’t matter to me where we are ranked right now…that only matters at the end of the season when we have a chance to win a championship. That ranking is probably based on last year’s success and this is a completely different team, so we have to earn everything.”
As one of the veterans of the unit, Parker has high expectations for the defensive line group. Parker and fellow junior Peter Woods led the group in production last season, while the group added Purdue transfer Will Heldt to go with many quality veterans on the defensive line.
“This is the best group we’ve had since I got here. We worked really hard this offseason and hung out a lot off the field as well to make sure we have good chemistry and can understand each other on the field. The entire group celebrates together when someone makes a play on the field. It doesn’t matter who makes the play…everyone is bought in to help the team win.”
With much anticipated success as a unit, Parker’s individual goals are clear.
“I want people to turn the film on and see me as a player who dominates on every play. I want the reactions of other teams to be that they know they need to block me with more than one player.”
Parker said he models his game after Raider defensive end Maxx Crosby.
“The way he plays the game inspires me. The way he flies around the field and causes problems is exactly how I want my game to be talked about.”
Parker said a big part of the defense’s success comes from playing at home.
“When you walk out on the field for that first series, the stadium is rocking and we can’t even hear each other. We can tell the offense is spooked and they don’t know how to react. It gives us all the more motivation to make a play and get the fans even louder.”
The Tigers are playing with their home-field advantage when No. 9 LSU comes to town. With higher stakes than a typical season opener, Parker said the team is approaching it with the same mentality as it would for any other opponent.
“The preparation should always be the same. No matter who we are playing against, I always see it as a battle against myself to get better on every rep. We’re playing Clemson at the end of the day. As a group, we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to execute.”
When asked about what he is most looking forward to after his time at Clemson, he hopes to see the team continuing its success.
“It’s a big thing for me to leave Clemson in a better place than it was before I got here. That’s part of what motivates me to work hard now…to see teams down the line continuing to compete for a bunch of championships.”
When Parker’s time in orange and purple comes to a close, he hopes to be remembered as a great player, teammate and person who left the Clemson football program in a better place than how he found it.
