by Caroline Domecq
LSU Sports Information
The role of a leader is not handed out to just anyone, but is earned by a special few through dedication and persistence over time.
That is exactly how middle linebacker Lionel Turner has received his title as a leader on the LSU defense.
A fifth-year senior, Turner has been involved with this program longer than most members of the team and has really embraced his role toward the younger players.
“I’m a fifth-year senior, so I’ve been around for a while,” Turner said. “Some of the younger guys look to me as being a leader, and I look to myself to be a leader for them.”
But Turner also said he is not the kind of leader that most people may think. He feels he is more active in his approach than he is vocal.
“I’m a different leader than most people expect,” Turner explained. “Some leaders are kind of loud and overpowering, but I’m more of the quiet type of leader. I lead by example, and I think that’s the best way to be a leader.
“Coach Saban always says to do things, and it’s better for people to see you doing them than saying them, because it’s more likely to make them respond.” In his time at LSU, Turner has given the younger players a lot to respond to.
In his sophomore season in 2002, he played in 12 games with 11 starts at the Will linebacker position. Turner racked up 39 solo tackles and 71 total tackles, the third most on the team. He finished the season with three sacks as well.
He recorded his career high in tackles with 12 at Auburn that year and he posted a career best two sacks against Alabama.
Turner bettered that 12-tackle performance in this year’s season-opener against Oregon State with 15, and he matched his sack record in a big way last year–he recorded two of them in the National Championship game versus Oklahoma.
En route to earning AP Honorable Mention All-SEC honors, he started every game for the Tigers last season at the Mike linebacker position, taking over for former All-America selection Bradie James.
He increased his solo tackles last season to 50 and racked up 78 total, second only to LaRon Landry. He had three sacks, two in the National Championship game, and two interceptions, both coming against highly acclaimed quarterback David Greene of Georgia.
The first was in the teams’ Sept. 20 meeting that resulted in a 17-10 Tigers win, and the second came in LSU’s 34-13 rout of Georgia in the SEC Championship on Dec. 6.
Georgia had cut the Tigers’ 17-0 lead in that second matchup to 17-6 and had possession of the ball with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter. Greene stepped back and threw a pass, which Turner was able to grab and run back to the end zone to bring the Tigers’ lead back to 17 at 24-6.
That was a big play in that game, and according to Turner, it was so big for him that he considers it a defining moment in his career.
“On defense, you barely touch the ball, and it’s rare to get a chance to run it in for a touchdown,” he said. “And to do it in that circumstance was definitely a defining moment for me.”
That is a big thing to say for someone who has played football since his childhood in Walker, La.
Turner said though he first got started in basketball and baseball, it is football that has stuck with him after all this time.
“Really, growing up, baseball and basketball were the two main sports that I played,” Turner said. “My cousin got me involved in playing football. When I first went out there though in peewee football, I loved it. And it’s ever since that I’ve been playing it. It’s a great feeling playing football.”
While he continued to play basketball through his junior year of high school, it is football that took top priority in that period of his life.
Under the tutelage of Coach John Guerin, Turner emerged as a star for Walker High School. He was a three-time All-District selection, a first team Class 4A All-State selection and was the runner-up Class 4A Defensive MVP. He was also rated as the South’s No. 14 linebacker prospect by Superprep.
And not only was Turner able to make plays on defense, but he was a member of the offense in high school as well. An All-State selection on defense, he was also All-District on offense, playing halfback on that side of the ball.
“When you have a player who can be All-State on defense and All-District on offense, you know that he’s an impact player,” said Guerin. “And that’s the same reason he’s making an impact at LSU. He’s got good size, good speed and can just play.”
Turner admits that getting the experience on the offensive side of the ball in high school has contributed to the development of his game.
“Playing both offense and defense helped a lot,” he explained, “because by me playing offense and knowing offensive schemes and how to run a route, and then playing on the other side on defense, I got a look at the receivers, the running backs and the linemen and saw how they set. From being on offense you can tell whether it’s a pass or a run too. So getting that experience on offense helped out a lot.”
Coach Guerin said it was Turner’s dedication that gave him the competitive edge in high school.
“Lionel was able to make big plays,” Guerin said. “He was someone I could always count on because he worked hard and did the things he was supposed to do.”
All except one time, Guerin joked in recounting a story he still teases Turner about to this day.
One day, Turner and a few teammates had gone home after school and were late for the pre-game activities. They tried to sneak back, but Guerin was waiting for them in the parking lot.
Turner laughed and shook his head when asked about the incident. “He punished us by not playing us the first quarter so we didn’t get a start,” he said. “We kind of fell behind in the game, and at halftime felt like it was all our fault because we didn’t get the chance to start, and the other team got a quick jump early. But we eventually got in the game and ended up coming back to win that game. I learned my lesson–I knew to be on time after that.”
Turner made it to the rest of his high school games on time, and he made it to LSU just in time to be a vital part of a team that was able to win a National Championship.
Though it was a different environment, he said the transition to college was not that difficult due to similarities between his high school coach and LSU coach Nick Saban.
“Coach Guerin demanded some of the same things out of the players that Coach Saban does,” he explained. “Coach Saban demands a respect for the other players on the team and the coaching staff, and you always have to be on time and do things the right way and have the right discipline. And that’s how it was in high school, so it was easier for me to adapt to those things when I got here because Coach Guerin instilled those same things in me.”
So far this season, Turner has compiled statistics that further reinforce his abilities to be a leader by example. Through six games, he leads the team in total tackles with 45, 21 of them solo stops. He is tied for second on the squad with two sacks.
LSU linebacker Kenneth Hollis, a JUCO transfer prior to the 2003 season, said Turner’s leadership has impacted his own game on the field.
“He’s a great leader and he’s also a great role model,” Hollis said in describing Turner. “I really look up to him because of his experience and his physical ability at running to the ball and being able to set the defense up.”
He also credits Turner with keeping up the intensity among the defensive players.
“He knows everything and he’s a leader through everything,” Hollis said. “He leads through voice, calling the plays; he’s a leader in getting everybody to the huddle and getting everybody hyped. If somebody misses a play, he makes sure and tells him to keep bringing it and not to quit.”
Turner said he was able to learn his leadership skills from some former LSU players who knew a little about leadership themselves.
“Some of the older guys like (former quarterback) Rohan (Davey), (former linebackers) Bradie (James) and Trev (Faulk) helped out a lot, because when you first come here and have a lot of high expectations about playing and then you don’t, you kind of get down on yourself,” he explained. “And those guys were there to tell me that I was going to be good in the future, and that it’s a learning process that everyone goes through. They told me just to keep going in there and doing everything the coaches wanted me to.
“They helped me a lot also just by watching them play, and now I’m in that position trying to instill that in the younger guys and giving them advice. I tell them that just because they’re redshirting doesn’t mean they don’t have to listen. You never know when your number’s going to get called.”
Since his number was called, Turner has definitely provided an answer. But as a senior, the Tigers will not be calling out his number anymore after this season. That is why he said it is important he finishes on a positive note.
“I just want to go out there and help the team as best as I can, ” he said.
“But no matter what, ” he added, “I know that my career here was successful, and I’m just trying to close it out strong.”