Josiah Trotter Still Calls Himself a Mountaineer in NFL Draft Announcement

Nowadays, seeing a player begin and end his career with the same school is becoming increasingly rare. In the past, we'd only follow those who went on to the next level who finished their career at West Virginia, but moving forward, there may be some exceptions to that.

Linebacker Josiah Trotter is one of them.

After spending the first two years of his career in the Old Gold and Blue, Trotter entered the transfer portal following the coaching change and landed at Missouri. This past season, he led the Tigers in tackles (84) and tackles for loss (13).

In a somewhat surprising decision, Trotter announced that he would be declaring early for the 2026 NFL Draft, despite having two years of eligibility remaining. More surprisingly, he made it a point to let folks know he's still a Mountaineer and will always be.

Forever a mountaineer and mizzou tiger for life 🏔️🐯 pic.twitter.com/WDy6Ulort7
— Josiah Trotter (@TrotterJosiah) January 2, 2026

In a separate post announcing the decision, Trotter stated, “First and foremost, I want to thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to play this game. I would not be where I am today without him.

“I am incredibly grateful to my parents, family, friends, my high school coaches, and teammates (Go Prep). Your unwavering support and guidance have played a vital role in shaping me both as a man and as a student-athlete.

“I also want to thank my teammates and coaches at West Virginia and Missouri. Spending three years competing alongside such incredible people has been a true blessing, and I am thankful to the coaching staffs for their guidance and commitment to helping me become the best version of myself.

“To the passionate fans at West Virginia and Missouri — thank you for your constant support. I will forever be a Mountaineer and a Mizzou Tiger.

“After much prayer and reflection, I will be foregoing my last 2 years of eligibility and declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft to pursue a lifelong dream.”

Trotter suffered a season-ending injury in his first year with the Mountaineers. As a redshirt freshman, he was one of the team's best defenders, tallying 92 tackles, four tackles for loss, and an interception.

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