Dillon Cotten to play football at Tusculum

BAKER – Matt Brunson, the Baker head football coach, is quick to praise Gator offensive lineman Dillon Cotten, who signed with Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., last week.

“I’ve coached for 20 years now and he’s one of the top four or five offensive linemen I’ve had,” Brunson said. “Dillon is a good football player. He comes off the football and he’s got a mean streak in him.

“He understands how to play with leverage and he’s got a great motor. He’s done a great job in the weight room getting strong. Tusculum is getting a great player in Dillon Cotten.”

The 6-foot-2 1/2, 280-pound Cotten has been a fixture on the Baker offensive line for the last three years, and he expects to stay on the offensive line when he starts his playing career for the Pioneers in the fall.

“I’ll be the offensive line all the way,” Cotten said. “They (the Tusculum coaches) said I’ll more than likely play guard, but they’ll move me to tackle if they have to.”

Cotten was courted by a handful of small colleges, but after taking his official visit to Tusculum, a NCAA Division II school, it was an easy decision to sign with the Pioneers.

“I went up there on a visit to see what it was like and when I got there it was a small town environment like Baker,” he said. “I got to stay with some of the athletes and they were very welcoming. And I got to meet the coaches and they were very welcoming.

“I just loved it. It was awesome.”

Cotten also said he loves Tusculum’s location in the heart of the mountains in east Tennessee.

Brunson and Cotten both said Cotten’s work ethic will serve him well at the college level.

“I like to work,” Cotten said. “I like the weight room. And I don’t like to lose.

“I’ve always worked hard.”

Cotten credited former Baker coach Bob Kellogg for laying a foundation in his football career and Brunson for building on it his senior year.

Brunson said Cotten will need to improve his pass blocking when he gets to Tusculum as the Gators were a run oriented team, but the pass blocking shouldn’t be that hard for him to learn.

“We’ve talked about it and he knows he’s got to work on pass protection,” Brunson said. “We are a come-off-the-football and run team. But the college recruiters we’ve talked to say once a kid can come off the ball and move people, they can teach them to pass block.

“That’s the thing he’s going to have to develop. He’s real athletic and he works hard so he will adjust fine.”