Ty Benefield‘s roots are in Canada, California and Idaho, but he’s got a feel for the tradition down at LSU.
The son of a 14-year CFL veteran, Benefield was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He moved to Southern California to finish high school. When it was time for him to make his college decision, he settled on Boise State, some 600 miles from where he grew up, a relatively short distance speaking in Pacific Northwest terms.
After starring for the Broncos for three years, he was ready for a new challenge. Mansoor Delane parlayed that new challenge at DBU into a top five draft pick last year. Benefield was watching.
“When I was at Boise, I saw his name popping up everywhere,” Benefield said. “And then eventually when I entered the portal, that for sure is the blueprint. I’m not going to compare myself to anybody or anything. He did amazing…He’s definitely an inspiration to me, though. Just the way he came in in one year, was able to do that, it’s amazing. It really is.”
Benefield was a ballhawk on the blue turf. He started 28 straight games and was First Team All-Mountain West as a junior. He amassed 235 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 16 pass breakups and 5 interceptions doing a little bit of everything for the Broncos.
At 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds with great speed, Benefield can play deep safety, cheat up toward the line of scrimmage, come on blitzes, cover man-to-man and get ball carriers on the ground.
“You could just see me doing everything,” Benefield said. “The thing that gets me really going is just making plays for my team, whether it be a tackle, whether it be setting an edge, little things like that. But for sure that ball, I want that ball. I want to go pick that ball off any chance that I get. And I will when that time comes.”
That ability to force turnovers was a hallmark of another all-time great LSU defensive back — Tyrann Matheiu.
The Honey Badger’s last game at LSU was in January of 2012. Benefield was six years old. That makes remembering Mathieu’s time in purple and gold tough, but the newest Tiger defensive back was well aware of Mathieu’s accomplishments in another way when he was introduced over the summer.
“It meant everything,” Benefield said. “When myself and Tamarcus (Cooley) met him, it was like we were looking at each other like, ‘whoa, this is this is crazy.’ Used to use this dude on Madden and see him play all the time. And then now I’m in the flesh talking to him, and we’re asking him questions, picking his brain on things, and it’s valuable information. It’s just such a great memory now that I’ll have for the rest of my life.”
The transfer portal has a way of allowing dominant players at lower levels the opportunity to challenge themselves against the best in college football. Benefield now gets that in the SEC after three seasons in the Mountain West.
He’s only been on campus since January, but in that time, he’s been impressed with LSU’s collection of talent. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker has taken the Tigers from the No. 108 total defense in the nation when he arrived following 2023 to No. 27 last season.
Benefield thinks this group can be better.
“The potential of this defense is to be the number one defense,” Benefield said. “It’s just more working on the small details. Small things equal big things. Those guys up front are doing a great job. Of course they’re young, and they’re going to make little mistakes, but this is one of the most talented young defensive lines I’ve seen. The guys around me, it’s crazy to play with that. It’s a ton of fun.”
