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Astronaut senior Adarian Dotson stepped foot on campus with sports not on his radar. His passions were fishing and video games.
That changed early in his freshman year when a War Eagles football coach saw him wandering the halls with measurables at 6-foot-4, 285 pounds.
“I didn’t play football when I was in middle school, so coming into high school I got thrown right onto varsity,” Dotson said. “My coach seeing me I was big so he had to just get me.”
Dotson underwent a learning curve to understand the intricacies of being an offensive line. He said the biggest hurdle was learning stances and cadences.
“It was a lot because I didn’t know anything about football,” Dotson said. “I’ve watched it a little bit but didn’t know much, but I really caught onto it starting from the higher up players. I’ve accomplished a lot. I’ve gained a lot of offers in these couple years, so it’s been great.”
Dotson said facing the 2024 state champions Cocoa as a sophomore was his eye-opening moment.
“They were very good,” Dotson said. “They had a lot of good players and I was kind of holding my own against them. I was saying I could fit with these guys because they had offers and they were really good.”
In today’s ever-changing transfer landscape, Dotson stayed at Astronaut for all four years and grew into a Division I recruit.
“It means a lot. I just wanted to stick with my brothers that I started with. That’s the biggest thing is just having my connections,” Dotson said. “My head coach, I came in here. We were his first class so just to be on his journey with him too has been great.”
Given his lack of football experience, Dotson said he never envisioned playing college football. After three productive seasons, Dotson committed to FIU.
“Love staying close to home. It felt like home when I went on my visit,” Dotson said. “For what I want to do in my future, it’s very helpful being down there just with all the fishing charters and all that so it was a great choice for me.”
Dotson said he would describe himself as aggressive and fast. He’s primarily played on the outside, but the senior has also played some on the interior.
“We are a very run-heavy team, so just being able to have my skills focused on that I think is very important,” Dotson said. “I’ve been working on my pass protection, trying to get ready for college because I know it’s not all run at the next level.”
As the leader on the offensive line, Dotson said he’s determined to help Astronaut return to the state playoffs for the first time since 2020.
“We haven’t made the playoffs in a couple years, so I really want to make the playoffs and get that Hudson Trophy back,” Dotson said. “We’ve been working very hard to make sure we get that, so I think we can do it.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Dandy Dozen: Adarian Dotson rose from no football experience to FIU
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