Derek Stingley Jr. reveals the advice Tyrann Mathieu gave him about leadership
Derek Stingley Jr. is going to be one of the most highly-coveted NFL prospects this season at LSU.
The talented cornerback will also wear the special No. 7 jersey for what will likely be his final season in Baton Rouge.
During SEC Media Days in Hoover on Monday, Stingley shared some advice on leadership he got from another former LSU No. 7 — Tyrann Mathieu (via 247Sports):
Q: Getting to wear that No. 7 jersey obviously is such an honor. I know that also the No. 18 jersey is a huge deal. They even have a whole kind of group text thing. Do you all do the same thing for the No. 7 jersey? Do you all talk to former guys who wore the jersey? If so, what’s some of the best advice one of those guys gave you?
DEREK STINGLEY JR.: I’ve talked to a couple of the previous 7s, but with Tyrann Mathieu, I asked him how to be the perfect leader, and there is no perfect way. It’s just however you feel it needs to be.
Like me, I’m a quiet guy, so he told me, he was like, You don’t always have to go out there and scream and yell and be this rah-rah guy. When you speak, people are going to listen.
I took that, and I started noticing, whenever I had something to say, people would listen. And I didn’t think I had that kind of power at all, like I thought I was just a normal guy, just like everything else, you know.
Based on his answers at SEC Media Days, Stingley is indeed a quiet guy. But, as he learned from Mathieu, you don’t have to be the loudest guy in the room to demand respect.
We’ll see if Stingley can lead a turnaround for the LSU defense this fall.